Gods and Demigods read The Son of Neptune
by katrinyyy
Summary: The Gods and Demigods read The Son of Neptune. This is set right after The Battle of the Labyrinth.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! ****  
**

**If there is anything you recognize I don't own it. Rick Riordan does.**

**This Story takes place between 'The Battle of the Labyrinth' and 'The Last Olympian' so the war isn't over and Percy and Annabeth are not together yet.**

**Now on with the story:**

* * *

Percy and Annabeth were sitting by the lake talking about the war and about going back to school.

About a week ago there were a big battle at camp half-blood and the campers were still trying to get over it.

Most of the Apollo cabin was in the infirmary taking care of the wounded.

The Hephaestus cabin was working overtime in the forges to make new weapons and armors.

All the other cabins were either helping them or doing their own thing to make them ready for the coming war.

Percy and Annabeth had been doing the exact same thing but were now taking a well-deserved break.

And here they were sitting by the lake talking when suddenly there was a big bright light and they disappeared.

* * *

At Olympus the 12 Olympians plus Hestia were also talking about the war when suddenly there was a big bright light and four demigods and a satyr appeared in front of the.

"Thalia!" Screamed the blonde demigod and hugged the black-haired girl. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," answered Thalia. "I was hunting when suddenly there was this light and then I was here. What about you, Annabeth?"

"The same happened to Percy and I," answered the blonde demigod, Annabeth.

"Did that happen to you too, Nico?" Asked Percy the last demigod who had just been standing looking really uncomfortable.

Nico just nodded.

Then they all turned to the gods who had been looking at them in shock.

"Why did you summon us, mother?" Asked Annabeth.

"We didn't summon you," answered Athena.

Suddenly there was another bright light and a note and a book appeared on the floor in front of them.

Annabeth cautiously walked towards it, picked up the note and read out loud:

_Dear gods, demigods and Grover_

"Wow, that's nice," said the satyr, Grover, sarcastically.

_We have summoned you today to read a book_

"A book," groaned Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Percy and Thalia.

_about the biggest hero there has ever been. _

_The book happens in the future._

_Time has been frozen so you don't have to worry about the war._

_The Fates_

_P.S. No maiming or killing_

Everybody looked shocked.

"Well we better start reading then," said Athena excited. They were reading a book!

Hestia made some couches appear so the demigods and Grover could sit down and Annabeth picked up the book and opened it to the first page.

"**The Son of Neptune**," she read.

Everybody looked at Poseidon.

"What?" He asked. "I only have one child and he is sitting in this room."

Now everybody looked at his son, Percy Jackson, who felt really uncomfortable with all the stares.

"Can't we just read the book," he asked.

Annabeth nodded, turned a page and read.

"**Chapter one: Percy**."


	2. Chapter one: Percy

**Here's the first real chapter.**

**I don't own anything written in bold. That is all Rick Riordan's. **

* * *

"**Chapter one:** **Percy**," read Annabeth.

"Does it have to be in my point of view?" Groaned Percy.

"Yes! Blackmail!" Yelled Thalia.

**THE SNAKE-HAIRED LADIES WERE starting to annoy Percy.**

**They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart. **

"Only you, Seaweed Brain, would think about dropping a bowling ball on a monster" said Annabeth fondly.

**They should have died two days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez. They definitely should have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tilden Park.**

**No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies. **

"Large evil dust bunnies." Said Nico shaking his head. "You have some weird thoughts, Percy."

Everybody started laughing while Percy blushed.

**He couldn't even seem to outrun them.**

**He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since he'd last killed them? Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.**

"What? That shouldn't be possible!" Cried Annabeth. "Even with your luck they should stay dead for at least a couple of days!"

**The past few days, he'd hardly slept. **

"Why aren't you at Camp Half-blood?" Asked Poseidon.

"I don't know, dad. This happens in the future," answered Percy.

**He'd eaten whatever he could scrounge—vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low. **

"I don't understand," said Annabeth.

"Wow! Annabeth doesn't understand something," teased Thalia.

"Well, there's a first for everything," said Percy.

"No guys. I mean, why am I not with you, Percy? Have you gone on a quest alone?" Asked Annabeth confused.

"I don't know. Maybe because of the war we both had to go on separate quests?" Guessed Percy.

"Yeah, maybe," said Annabeth.

**His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime.**

"Eww!" Shrieked Aphrodite.

**He'd only survived this long because the two snake-haired-ladies—gorgons, they called themselves—couldn't seem to kill him either. **

"Is this what I think it is?" Asked Nico.

"Maybe," said Percy. He must really have been desperate if he went with Nico's plan.

Everybody looked at them totally confused, but Nico and Percy just ignored them.

**Their claws didn't cut his skin. **

**Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him. **

"Yes! You actually did it?" Yelled Nico.

"Yeah, it seems like it," answered Percy a little nervous.

"Okay, what are you two talking about?" Demanded Annabeth.

"Nothing," answered Nico smiling. He couldn't believe Percy actually did it.

**But Percy couldn't keep going much longer. Soon he'd collapse from exhaustion, and then—as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.**

"Wow, pessimistic much?" Asked Thalia.

"No, I'm just realistic," said Percy.

"No way, Percy. You are probably the most pessimistic person I have ever met!" Exclaimed Grover.

**Where to run?**

**He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might've enjoyed the view. To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows. To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west—a vast checkerboard of neighbourhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod.**

"You think?" Asked Nico sarcastically.

**Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.**

**A vague sadness weighed on Percy's chest. Something told him he'd been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeth—the only person he could remember from his past. **

"Wait, what! I have amnesia?" Yelled Percy.

"Apparently," answered Annabeth concerned.

"The bigger question is," said Thalia smirking. "Why it is only Annabeth you can remember?"

Both Percy and Annabeth blushed while everybody else laughed.

"So cute!" cooed Aphrodite. " You are totally my favourite couple!"

If it was possible Percy and Annabeth blushed even more.

_Is it possible that he actually likes me_? Thought Annabeth nervously.

To avoid further embarrassment Annabeth started reading again.

**His memory of her was frustratingly dim. The wolf had promised he would see her again and regain his memory—if he succeeded in his journey.**

"Awww," cooed Aphrodite.

**Should he try to cross the bay?**

**It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water always revived him. Salt water was the best. He'd discovered that two days ago when he had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait. If he could reach the bay, he might be able to make a last stand. **

"Yes, Percy. Go to the water!" Yelled Poseidon.

"You du know that I am sitting right here, right dad?" Asked Percy.

"Oh, yeah. Of course," said Poseidon embarrassed.

**Maybe he could even drown the gorgons. But the shore was at least two miles away. He'd have to cross an entire city.**

**He hesitated for another reason. The she-wolf Lupa **

"Lupa?" Asked Annabeth. "Isn't she some kind of roman god?"

All the gods looked nervously at each other. What if they found out about the other camp?

**had taught him to sharpen his senses—to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was close—almost right under his feet. But how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop.**

**The wind changed. Percy caught the sour scent of reptile. **

"Oh no," said Annabeth concerned.

**A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods—snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing.**

**Gorgons.**

**For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses weren't so good. They had always said they could smell him because he was a demigod—the half-blood son of some old Roman god. Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-freshener sticks in his pockets so he'd have that new car smell; **

"Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth shaking her head.

**but apparently demigod stink was hard to mask.**

**He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hill's base and wound its way toward Berkeley.**

**Great. No other way off the hill. He'd managed to get himself cornered.**

Everyone looked at Percy a little concerned, but he just ignored them.

**He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were in one of them. Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a tunnel…right under his feet.**

**His internal radar went nuts. He was in the right place, just too high up. He had to check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highway—fast.**

"But how are you going to get down?" Asked Thalia a little concerned. Even though they fought a lot he was her cousin and she didn't want him to get hurt.

Percy only shrugged.

**He slung off his backpack. He'd managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, a Comfy Panda Pillow Pet**

"A pillow pet? Really, Percy?" Asked Annabeth.

**(as seen on TV), and a Swiss army knife—pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want. But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled.**

**That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, or stand and fight. Both options sounded pretty bad.**

"Stand and fight!" Yelled Ares.

**He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket.**

"What are you going to do with a pen? Write on the monster? Snickered Ares.

**The pen didn't look like much, just a regular cheap ballpoint, but when Percy uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword. **

"Oh," said Ares.

**The blade balanced perfectly. The leather grip fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard was an Ancient Greek word Percy somehow understood: Anaklusmos—Riptide.**

"Of course you understood it, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth.

**He'd woken up with this sword his first night at the Wolf House—two months ago? **

"So you have been totally alone with amnesia for two months?" Exclaimed Annabeth.

"It looks like it," said Percy a little nervous.

**More? He'd lost track. He'd found himself in the courtyard of a burned-out mansion in the middle of the woods, wearing shorts, an orange T-shirt, and a leather necklace with a bunch of strange clay beads. Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had had no idea how he'd gotten there, and only the vaguest idea who he was. He'd been barefoot, freezing, and confused.**

"Wow Percy, you really have the worst luck," said Nico.

"You've just noticed?" Was Percy's answer.

**And then the wolves came...**

**Right next to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: "There you are!"**

**Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the****"****edge of the hill.**

**It was the smiley one—Beano.**

"There is no gorgon named Beano!" Yelled Athena angrily. She did not like the sea god's kids, especially when they were so close to her daughter.

**Okay, her name wasn't really Beano. As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic, because words got twisted around when he tried to read. The first time he'd seen the gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green button that read: Welcome! My name is STHENO, he'd thought it said BEANO.**

"Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth.

"Are you going to say that every time I do or say something stupid in the book?" Asked Percy.

"Yes," Answered Annabeth and Percy sighed.

**She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress. If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebody's dumpy old grandmother—until you looked down and realized she had rooster feet. Or you looked up and saw bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes.**

"Eww! Even I couldn't help her!" Shrieked Aphrodite.

**The most horrible thing about her? She was still holding her big silver platter of free samples: Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. Her platter was dented from all the times Percy had killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine. Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him. Percy didn't know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor, he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. They were indestructible. **

Everybody laughed and Percy blushed.

"Seriously, Kelp Head?" Asked Thalia.

**"****Try one?" Stheno offered.**

**Percy fended her off with his sword. "Where's your sister?"**

**"****Oh, put the sword away," Stheno chided. "You know by now that even Celestial bronze can't kill us for long. Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener! They're on sale this week, and I'd hate to kill you on an empty stomach."**

"What is wrong with this monster?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****Stheno!" The second gorgon appeared on Percy's right so fast, he didn't have time to react. Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention. "I told you to sneak up on him and kill him!"**

**Stheno's smile wavered. "But, Euryale…" She said the name so it rhymed with Muriel. "Can't I give him a sample first?"**

"Why does she want you to eat it so badly?" Asked Annabeth. "Unless…"

She looked at her mother who nodded to show she was thinking the same thing.

"What?" Everybody asked.

"Nothing," Was the only answer they got.

**"****No, you imbecile!" Euryale turned toward Percy and bared her fangs.**

**Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is DIE, DEMIGOD SCUM!**

"Subtle, really subtle," said Nico sarcastically.

**"****You've led us on quite a chase, Percy Jackson," Euryale said. "But now you're trapped, and we'll have our revenge!"**

**"****The Cheese 'n' Wieners are only $2.99," Stheno added helpfully. "Grocery department, aisle three." Euryale snarled. "Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front!**

**You're going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that he's the one who vaporized Medusa?"**

"You vaporized Medusa?" Asked Thalia and Nico.

"Yeah, on my first quest with Annabeth and Grover," answered Percy smiling at Annabeth and Grover who smiled back.

**Percy stepped back. Six more inches, and he'd be tumbling through thin air. "Look, ladies, we've been over this. I don't even remember killing Medusa. I don't remember anything! Can't we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?"**

**Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks. "Can we?"**

"Seriously?" Asked Thalia.

**"****No!" Euryale's red eyes bored into Percy. "I don't care what you remember, son of the sea god. I can smell Medusa's blood on you. It's faint, yes, several years old, but you were the last one to defeat her. She still has not returned from Tartarus. It's your fault!"**

**Percy didn't really get that. The whole "dying then returning from Tartarus" concept gave him a headache. **

"Of course it does," Said Annabeth fondly.

**Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a sword, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that Percy was the son of a barnacle-encrusted god from five thousand years ago. **

"Barnacle-encrusted god!" laughed Apollo Hermes and surprisingly enough Athena. But of course when people made fun of Poseidon Athena always laughed.

**But he did believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way he knew his name was Percy Jackson. From his very first conversation with Lupa the wolf, he'd accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality. Which pretty much sucked.**

"Yep," said Annabeth, Thalia, Nico and Percy.

"Is it really that bad?" Asked Artemis curiously.

"It really is. You are always in danger and you never know when you are going to be attacked or if you are going to survive to your next birthday," answered Percy.

All the gods with children looked down in shame.

**"****How about we call it a draw?" he said. "I can't kill you. You can't kill me. If you're Medusa's sisters—like the Medusa who turned people to stone—shouldn't I be petrified by now?"**

"They won't like that" said Athena.

**"****Heroes!" Euryale said with disgust. "They always bring that up, just like our mother! 'Why can't you turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone.' Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa's curse alone. She was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!"**

**Stheno looked hurt. "Mother said I was the most hideous."**

"They are actually fighting about who is the ugliest? Asked Aphrodite disgusted.

**"****Quiet!" Euryale snapped. "As for you, Percy Jackson, it's true you bear the mark of Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But don't worry. We'll find a way."**

"What! You bathed in the River Styx?" Yelled Annabeth.

"Uh, yeah?" It came out more as a question than an answer.

"When?" Demanded Annabeth.

"I haven't done it yet if that is what you are asking," answered Percy a little more confidently. "And look on the bright side: It looks like I would have been killed if I didn't have do it."

Annabeth just huffed.

**"****The mark of what?"**

"Of course you wouldn't know what it is," said Thalia shaking her head.

**"****Achilles," Stheno said cheerfully. "Oh, he was gorgeous! Dipped in the River Styx as a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. That's what happened to you, dear. Someone must've dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like iron. But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won't that be lovely? **

"Yeah so lovely," said Percy sarcastically.

**Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener!"**

"Enough with the Cheese 'n' Wiener!" Yelled Thalia.

**Percy tried to think. **

"Don't hurt yourself, Seaweed Brain," teased Annabeth and everyone (except Percy) laughed.

**He didn't remember any dip in the Styx. Then again, he didn't remember much of anything. His skin didn't feel like iron, but it would explain how he'd held out so long against the gorgons.**

**Maybe if he just fell down the mountain…would he survive? He didn't want to risk it—not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or…**

**He looked at Stheno's large silver platter of free samples.**

**Hmm...**

"Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?" Asked Annabeth.

"I think so," answered Percy.

**"****Reconsidering?" Stheno asked. "Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon's blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless."**

"I knew it!" Yelled Annabeth and Athena.

**Percy's throat constricted. "You added your blood to the Cheese 'n' Wieners?"**

**"****Just a little." Stheno smiled. "A tiny nick on my arm, but you're sweet to be concerned.**

"Because it was definitely you he was concerned about," said Nico sarcastically.

**Blood from our right side can cure anything, you know, but blood from our left side is deadly—"**

**"****You dimwit!" Euryale screeched. "You're not supposed to tell him that! He won't eat the wieners if you tell him they're poisoned!"**

**Stheno looked stunned. "He won't? But I said it would be quick and painless."**

"Wow, she is stupid," said Thalia.

**"****Never mind!" Euryale's fingernails grew into claws. "We'll kill him the hard way—just keep slashing until we find the weak spot. Once we defeat Percy Jackson, we'll be more famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!"**

"Your Patron?" Asked Athena.

**Percy gripped his sword. He'd have to time his move perfectly—a few seconds of confusion, grab the platter with his left hand...**

**Keep them talking, he thought.**

"Good thinking," said Athena. Everybody looked at her; stunned she had said something nice to a son of Poseidon.

**"****Before you slash me to bits," he said, "who's this patron you mentioned?"**

**Euryale sneered. "The goddess Gaea, of course! **

"Gaea!" Exclaimed all the gods nervously.

**The one who brought us back from oblivion! You won't live long enough to meet her, but your friends below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she'll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like—like—"**

**"****Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!" Stheno suggested."**

"Ugh! She is annoying!" Yelled Thalia.

**"****Gah!" Euryale stormed toward her sister. Percy took the opening. He grabbed Stheno's platter, scattering poisoned Cheese 'n' Wieners, and slashed Riptide across Euryale's waist, cutting her in half.**

"Yes! Go Percy!" Yelled Grover and Thalia.

**He raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection."**

**"****Medusa!" She screamed.**

Everybody laughed.

**Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting. **

"I am going to say it again," said Nico. "You have some weird thoughts, Percy."

And everybody laughed again, while Percy blushed.

**"****Stheno, you fool!" she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. "That's just your own reflection! Get him!"**

**Percy slammed the metal tray on top of Stheno's head, and she passed out cold.**

**He put the platter behind his butt, said a silent prayer to whatever Roman god oversaw stupid sledding tricks, and jumped off the side of the hill."**

"Done" said Annabeth. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," said Athena.

"What a surprise," said Poseidon and Hermes and Apollo laughed.

"**Chapter 2: Percy**," read Athena.


	3. Chapter two: Percy

**Here's the next chapter. I am going to try to update this story as fast as possible. Right now I am updating really fast but in two weeks I am going on vacation so there will be a little break in updates for about two weeks. But I am going to finish this story I can promise that. **

**Again: Everything that is written in bold (Except the A/N) is not mine. It is owned by Rick Riordan. **

* * *

"**Chapter 2: Percy**," read Athena.

**THE THING ABOUT PLUMMETING DOWNHILL at fifty miles an hour on a snack platter—if you realize it's a bad idea when you're halfway down, it's too late.**

"Your ideas are always bad, Percy," said Annabeth.

"But they work," countered Percy.

**Percy narrowly missed a tree, glanced off a boulder, and spun a three-sixty as he shot toward the highway. The stupid snack tray did not have power steering.**

"No, really?" Asked Nico sarcastically.

**He heard the gorgon sisters screaming and caught a glimpse of Euryale's coral-snake hair at the top of the hill, but he didn't have time to worry about it. The roof of the apartment building loomed below him like the prow of a battleship. Head-on collision in ten, nine, eight…**

"Seven," said Apollo.

"Six," said Hermes.

"Fi-" started Apollo

"Shut up!" Yelled Artemis.

Both gods quickly shut up.

**He managed to swivel sideways to avoid breaking his legs on impact. The snack platter skittered across the roof and sailed through the air. The platter went one way. Percy went the other.**

"Of course you did," sighed Annabeth.

**As he fell toward the highway, a horrible scenario flashed through his mind: his body smashing against an SUV's windshield, some annoyed commuter trying to push him off with the wipers. Stupid sixteen-year-old kid falling from the sky! I'm late!**

Everybody laughed.

"Really Percy?" Laughed Thalia.

**Miraculously, a gust of wind blew him to one side—just enough to miss the highway and crash into a clump of bushes. **

"Did you do that, dad?" Asked Thalia.

"I don't know," answered Zeus confused. Why would he save Poseidon's son?

**It wasn't a soft landing, but it was better than asphalt.**

**Percy groaned. He wanted to lie there and pass out, but he had to keep moving.**

**He struggled to his feet. His hands were scratched up, but no bones seemed to be broken. He still had his backpack. Somewhere on the sled ride he'd lost his sword, but Percy knew it would eventually reappear in his pocket in pen form. That was part of its magic.**

"I love my sword," said Percy. He took out riptide and looked fondly at it.

"Should we give you two some time alone?" Asked Annabeth laughing at him.

"What? No!" Answered Percy embarrassed.

Everyone just laughed at him.

**He glanced up the hill. The gorgons were hard to miss, with their colorful snake hair and their bright green Bargain Mart vests. They were picking their way down the slope, going slower than Percy but with a lot more control. Those chicken feet must've been good for climbing. **

"Yes they are. A chicken can…" Started Athena.

"We do not want an entire lesson on Chickens," Yelled Poseidon.

Athena huffed but started reading again.

**Percy figured he had maybe five minutes before they reached him.**

"Oh no," said Poseidon concerned.

**Next to him, a tall chain-link fence separated the highway from a neighborhood of winding streets, cozy houses, and tall eucalyptus trees. The fence was probably there to keep people from getting onto the highway and doing stupid things—like sledding into the fast lane on snack trays—**

"Yeah, that is exactly why they are there," said Nico sarcastically.

**but the chain-link was full of big holes. Percy could easily slip through into the neighborhood. Maybe he could find a car and drive west to the ocean.**

"Yes! Go to the ocean, son!" Yelled Poseidon.

"I am still right here, dad," said Percy, but Poseidon ignored him.

**He didn't like stealing cars, but over the past few weeks, in life-and-death situations, he'd "borrowed" several, including a police cruiser.**

"Oh! I love your son, Poseidon!" Laughed Hermes.

**He'd meant to return them, but they never seemed to last very long.**

**He glanced east. Just as he'd figured, a hundred yards uphill the highway cut through the base of the cliff. Two tunnel entrances, one for each direction of traffic, stared down at him like eye sockets of a giant skull. **

"Way to make a normal tunnel sound totally creepy, Percy," said Nico.

"Yeah, that is just one of the many things I'm good at," answered Percy.

**In the middle, where the nose would have been, a cement wall jutted from the hillside, with a metal door like the entrance to a bunker.**

**It might have been a maintenance tunnel. That's probably what mortals thought, if they noticed the door at all. But they couldn't see through the Mist. Percy knew the door was more than that.**

"What is it?" Asked Annabeth. She hated not knowing things.

"I don't know," answered Percy.

**Two kids in armor flanked the entrance.**

"Demigods?" Asked Thalia.

No one answered, but the gods looked at each other nervously.

**They wore a bizarre mix of plumed Roman helmets, breastplates, scabbards, blue jeans, purple T-shirts, and white athletic shoes. The guard on the right looked like a girl, though it was hard to tell for sure with all the armor. The one on the left was a stocky guy with a bow and quiver on his back. Both kids held long wooden staffs with iron spear tips, like old-fashioned harpoons.**

"Definitely demigods," said Annabeth. "But what are they doing there?"

**Percy's internal radar was pinging like crazy. After so many horrible days, he'd finally reached his goal. His instincts told him that if he could make it inside that door, he might find safety for the first time since the wolves had sent him south.**

**So why did he feel such dread?**

**Farther up the hill, the gorgons were scrambling over the roof of the apartment complex. Three minutes away—maybe less.**

"You can do it, Percy!" Yelled Grover.

**Part of him wanted to run to the door in the hill. He'd have to cross to the median of the highway, but then it would be a short sprint. He could make it before the gorgons reached him.**

**Part of him wanted to head west to the ocean. That's where he'd be safest. That's where his power would be greatest. Those Roman guards at the door made him uneasy. **

"Roman guards? They should be Greek," said Annabeth.

"Maybe I just mistook them for Roman," said Percy confused. "Like I called the gods roman."

**Something inside him said: This isn't my territory. This is dangerous.**

**"****You're right, of course," said a voice next to him.**

"Oh no! Another monster," groaned Poseidon.

**Percy jumped. At first he thought Beano had managed to sneak up on him again, but the old lady sitting in the bushes was even more repulsive than a gorgon. She looked like a hippie who'd been kicked to the side of the road maybe forty years ago, where she'd been collecting trash and rags ever since. She wore a dress made of tie-dyed cloth, ripped-up quilts, and plastic grocery bags. Her frizzy mop of hair was grey-brown, like root-beer foam, tied back with a peace-sign headband. Warts and moles covered her face. When she smiled, she showed exactly three teeth.**

"Eww!" Shrieked Aphrodite. "Who is that monster?"

**"****It isn't a maintenance tunnel," she confided. "It's the entrance to camp."**

"Camp?" Asked Annabeth. "Camp Half-Blood is nowhere near there."

All the demigods and Grover looked at each other confused.

**A jolt went up Percy's spine. Camp. Yes, that's where he was from. A camp. Maybe this was his home. Maybe Annabeth was close by.**

Percy and Annabeth blushed while everyone laughed at them.

"You are so cute!" Cooed Aphrodite.

**But something felt wrong. **

**The gorgons were still on the roof of the apartment building. Then Stheno shrieked in delight and pointed in Percy's direction.**

**The old hippie lady raised her eyebrows. "Not much time, child. You need to make your choice."**

"What choice?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****Who are you?" Percy asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The last thing he needed was another harmless mortal who turned out to be a monster.**

**"****Oh, you can call me June." The old lady's eyes sparkled as if she'd made an excellent joke. "It is June, isn't it? They named the month after me!"**

"June?" Said Annabeth. "They named the month after her?"

She started thinking. Could it be? No, that was impossible… But... She would just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile all the gods were looking at Hera confused and a little angry.

Hera herself was also confused. Why was she there?

**"****Okay…Look, I should go. Two gorgons are coming. I don't want them to hurt you."**

"There it is! Your fatal flaw," said Annabeth.

**June clasped her hands over her heart. "How sweet! But that's part of your choice!"**

"What choice?" Asked Annabeth again.

**"****My choice…" Percy glanced nervously toward the hill. The gorgons had taken off their green vests. Wings sprouted from their backs—small bat wings, which glinted like brass.**

**Since when did they have wings? **

"Wait, What?" Exclaimed Annabeth. "Gorgons don't have wings, right?" She looked at her mother.

"No they don't," said Athena.

Everybody was shocked.

**Maybe they were ornamental. Maybe they were too small to get a gorgon into the air. Then the two sisters leaped off the apartment building and soared toward him.**

"Of course they did. It is you, Percy; you are never lucky," said Nico.

**Great. Just great.**

**"****Yes, a choice," June said, as if she were in no hurry. "You could leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and go to the ocean. **

"Percy would never do that," said Annabeth.

"Yeah, he is way to loyal for that," agreed Thalia.

Percy just blushed.

**You'd make it there safely, I guarantee. The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monster would bother you. You could begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and misery that is in your future."**

"Old age?" Asked Percy stunned. Right now he couldn't even imagine surviving his sixteenth birthday.

**Percy was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the second option. "Or?"**

**"****Or you could do a good deed for an old lady," she said. "Carry me to the camp with you."**

"Carry her?" Asked Thalia.

**"****Carry you?" Percy hoped she was kidding. Then June hiked up her skirts and showed him her swollen purple feet.**

"Eww," said Aphrodite.

**"****I can't get there by myself," she said. "Carry me to camp—across the highway, through the tunnel, across the river."**

**Percy didn't know what river she meant, but it didn't sound easy. June looked pretty heavy.**

Hera huffed and all the gods looked like they were trying not to laugh.

Fortunately all the demigods and Grover didn't notice.

**The gorgons were only fifty yards away now—leisurely gliding toward him as if they knew the hunt was almost over.**

**Percy looked at the old lady. "And I'd carry you to this camp because—?"**

**"****Because it's a kindness!" she said. "And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. **

"Of course," sighed Percy.

**Of course, you wouldn't remember them, so I suppose it won't matter. You'd be safe at the bottom of the sea…"**

**Percy swallowed. The gorgons shrieked with laughter as they soared in for the kill.**

**"****If I go to the camp," he said, "will I get my memory back?"**

"Yes, can I please get my memory back?" Asked Percy.

**"****Eventually," June said. "But be warned, you will sacrifice much! **

"Of course," said Percy.

"Nothing is easy for you is it?" Asked Artemis. He was different. Not like normal men.

"Never," answered all the demigods and Grover for Percy.

**You'll lose the mark of Achilles. **

"No," groaned Nico.

Everyone looked at him weirdly except Percy who just laughed.

**You'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. **

"You really are the most unlucky person I have ever met," Said Grover looking at Percy sadly.

Percy just shrugged.

**But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family, to reclaim your old life."**

"And that will make him do it anyway. He would never abandon his friends and family," said Annabeth. That was one of the reasons she liked him so much.

Percy blushed.

**The gorgons were circling right overhead. They were probably studying the old woman, trying to figure out who the new player was before they struck.**

**"****What about those guards at the door?" Percy asked.**

**June smiled. "Oh, they'll let you in, dear. You can trust those two. So, what do you say? Will you help a defenseless old woman?"**

"I doubt she is defenseless," said Annabeth.

**Percy doubted June was defenseless. **

"Oh, no! I think like Percy!" cried Annabeth.

"Hey!" said Percy but everyone just laughed at him.

**At worst, this was a trap. At best, it was some kind of test.**

"I hate tests," groaned Percy.

**Percy hated tests. **

Everybody laughed.

"No need to repeat yourself," said Apollo.

**Since he'd lost his memory, his whole life was one big fill-in-the-blank. He was _, from _. He felt like _, and if the monsters caught him, he'd be _.**

Everyone laughed again.

**Then he thought about Annabeth, the only part of his old life he was sure about. He had to find her.**

"You are simply just too cute!" cried Aphrodite.

But Athena was thinking the complete opposite.

"Stay away from my daughter!" She yelled at Percy.

"Mother!" Cried Annabeth. "Percy is my best friend!"

Athena grumbled but stopped glaring at Percy.

"Thanks," said Percy smiling at Annabeth who blushed a little, but fortunately Percy didn't notice.

**"****I'll carry you." He scooped up the old woman.**

**She was lighter than he expected. Percy tried to ignore her sour breath and her calloused hands clinging to his neck. He made it across the first lane of traffic. A driver honked. Another yelled something that was lost in the wind. Most just swerved and looked irritated, as if they had to deal with a lot of ratty teenagers carrying old hippie women across the freeway here in Berkeley.**

"Yeah, because that is totally normal," said Nico sarcastically.

**A shadow fell over him. Stheno called down gleefully, "Clever boy! Found a goddess to carry, did you?"**

"A goddess?" Asked Annabeth. Maybe she was right. She glanced at Hera but the goddess showed no emotion.

**A goddess?**

**June cackled with delight, muttering, "Whoops!" as a car almost killed them.**

"Because that is so delightful," said Thalia, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

**Somewhere off to his left, Euryale screamed, "Get them! Two prizes are better than one!"**

**Percy bolted across the remaining lanes. Somehow he made it to the median alive. He saw the gorgons swooping down, cars swerving as the monsters passed overhead. He wondered what the mortals saw through the Mist—giant pelicans? Off-course hang gliders? The wolf Lupa had told him that mortal minds could believe just about anything—except the truth.**

**Percy ran for the door in the hillside. June got heavier with every step. Percy's heart pounded. His ribs ached.**

**One of the guards yelled. The guy with the bow nocked an arrow. **

"No!" Shouted almost everyone in the room.

**Percy shouted, "Wait!"**

**But the boy wasn't aiming at him. **

"Good," said Annabeth.

**The arrow flew over Percy's head. A gorgon wailed in pain. The second guard readied her spear, gesturing frantically at Percy to hurry.**

**Fifty feet from the door. Thirty feet.**

**"****Gotcha!" shrieked Euryale. Percy turned as an arrow thudded into her forehead. **

"Nice!" Said Apollo. "Maybe it is one my kids."

**Euryale tumbled into the fast lane. A truck slammed into her and carried her backward a hundred yards, but she just climbed over the cab, pulled the arrow out of her head, and launched back into the air.**

**Percy reached the door. "Thanks," he told the guards. "Good shot."**

**"****That should've killed her!" the archer protested.**

"Yes it should have," muttered Athena.

**"****Welcome to my world," Percy muttered.**

**"****Frank," the girl said. "Get them inside, quick! Those are gorgons."**

"Frank," said Annabeth. "I don't know any demigod named Frank."

**"****Gorgons?" The archer's voice squeaked. It was hard to tell much about him under the helmet, but he looked stout like a wrestler, maybe fourteen or fifteen. "Will the door hold them?"**

**In Percy's arms, June cackled. "No, no it won't. Onward, Percy Jackson! Through the tunnel, over the river!"**

**"****Percy Jackson?" The female guard was darker-skinned, with curly hair sticking out the sides of her helmet. She looked younger than Frank—maybe thirteen. Her sword scabbard came down almost to her ankle. Still, she sounded like she was the one in charge. "Okay, you're obviously a demigod. But who's the—?" She glanced at June. "Never mind. Just get inside. I'll hold them off."**

"She's brave," said Artemis. Maybe she could recruit her for the hunters.

**"****Hazel," the boy said. "Don't be crazy."**

**"****Go!" she demanded.**

**Frank cursed in another language—was that Latin? —**

"Latin?" Asked Annabeth.

**and opened the door. "Come on!"**

**Percy followed, staggering under the weight of the old lady, who was definitely getting heavier. He didn't know how that girl Hazel would hold off the gorgons by herself, but he was too tired to argue.**

**The tunnel cut through solid rock, about the width and height of a school hallway. At first, it looked like a typical maintenance tunnel, with electric cables, warning signs, and fuse boxes on the walls, light bulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As they ran deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke.**

**A few hundred yards ahead, Percy saw a square of daylight.**

**The old lady was heavier now than a pile of sandbags. Percy's arms shook from the strain. June mumbled a song in Latin, like a lullaby, which didn't help Percy concentrate.**

"Is she trying to kill you?" Asked Annabeth angrily.

**Behind them, the gorgons' voices echoed in the tunnel. Hazel shouted. Percy was tempted to dump June and runback to help, but then the entire tunnel shook with the rumble of falling stone. There was a squawking sound, just like the gorgons had made when Percy had dropped a crate of bowling balls on them in Napa. He glanced back. The west end of the tunnel was now filled with dust.**

**"****Shouldn't we check on Hazel?" he asked.**

"You are always concerned about everybody else, Percy," said Annabeth. "Maybe you should get yourself to safety for once."

"Yeah, okay," said Percy blushing.

**"****She'll be okay—I hope," Frank said. "She's good underground. Just keep moving! We're almost there."**

"Almost where?" Asked Nico.

**"****Almost where?"**

"Oh no! Now I think like Percy too!" Cried Nico.

Percy did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out.

**June chuckled. "All roads lead there, child. You should know that."**

**"****Detention?" Percy asked.**

**"****Rome, child," the old woman said. "Rome."**

"Rome?" Asked Thalia.

**Percy wasn't sure he'd heard her right. True, his memory was gone. His brain hadn't felt right since he had woken up at the Wolf House. But he was pretty sure Rome wasn't in California.**

"Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth.

**They kept running. The glow at the end of the tunnel grew brighter, and finally they burst into sunlight.**

**Percy froze. Spread out at his feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G.**

**The geography could've been anywhere in northern California—live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. That big inland mountain—what was it called, Mount Diablo? — rose in the distance, right where it should be.**

**But Percy felt like he'd stepped into a secret world. In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. He could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack.**

**Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with even more impressive buildings—temples, Percy guessed. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. Percy thought it looked like an elevated train track. Then he realized it must be an aqueduct.**

**The strangest part of the valley was right below him. About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading toward the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor. Percy heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire.**

"Wow," said Thalia. "What is that place?"

"I don't know," admitted Annabeth. The architecture of that place sounded amazing.

**"****Something about this place felt very familiar, yet not quite right.**

"It probably reminded you of camp," said Annabeth.

**"****Camp Jupiter,"**

"Wait? Camp _Jupiter_?" Asked Annabeth. "As in your," she pointed at Zeus. "Roman counterpart?"

None of the gods answered and Athena hurriedly started reading again.

**Frank said. "We'll be safe once—"**

**Footsteps echoed in the tunnel behind them. Hazel burst into the light. **

"Oh thank the gods," exclaimed Percy relieved.

**She was covered with stone dust and breathing hard. She'd lost her helmet, so her curly brown hair fell around her shoulders. Her armor had long slash marks in front from the claws of a gorgon. One of the monsters had tagged her with a 50% off sticker.**

**"****I slowed them down," she said. "But they'll be here any second."**

**Frank cursed. "We have to get across the river."**

**June squeezed Percy's neck tighter. "Oh, yes, please. I can't get my dress wet."**

"Yes, the most terrible thing that could happen is if she got her dress wet," said Nico sarcastically.

**Percy bit his tongue. If this lady was a goddess, she must've been the goddess of smelly, heavy, useless hippies. **

Hera glared at Percy but the only ones who noticed were the other gods, who tried not to laugh, and Annabeth, who was now sure she knew who this _June_ was.

**But he'd come this far. He'd better keep lugging her along.**

**_It's a kindness_****, she'd said. ****_And if you don't, the gods will die_****,****_ the world we know will perish_****,****_ and everyone from your old life will be destroyed_****.**

**If this was a test, he couldn't afford to get an F.**

**He stumbled a few times as they ran for the river. Frank and Hazel kept him on his feet.**

**They reached the riverbank, and Percy stopped to catch his breath. The current was fast, but the river didn't look deep. Only a stone's throw across stood the gates of the fort.**

**"****Go, Hazel." Frank nocked two arrows at once. "Escort Percy so the sentries don't shoot him. It's my turn to hold off the baddies."**

**Hazel nodded and waded into the stream.**

**Percy started to follow, but something made him hesitate. Usually he loved the water,**

"Of course you do. It is your fathers domain," said Annabeth.

"yeah, I know," answered Percy.

**but this river seemed…powerful, and not necessarily friendly.**

**"****The Little Tiber," said June sympathetically. "It flows with the power of the original Tiber, river of the empire. This is your last chance to back out, child. The mark of Achilles is a Greek blessing. You can't retain it if you cross into Roman territory. The Tiber will wash it away."**

"So they are Roman demigods?" Asked Annabeth.

Athena just hurried on reading.

**Percy was too exhausted to understand all that, but he got the main point. "If I cross, I won't have iron skin anymore?"**

**June smiled. "So what will it be? Safety, or a future of pain and possibility?"**

**Behind him, the gorgons screeched as they flew from the tunnel. Frank let his arrows fly.**

**From the middle of the river, Hazel yelled, "Percy, come on!"**

**Up on the watchtowers, horns blew. The sentries shouted and swivelled their crossbows toward the gorgons.**

**Annabeth, Percy thought. **

"Awww," said Aphrodite.

**He forged into the river. **

"No! Why would you do that?" Cried Nico.

**It was icy cold, much swifter than he'd imagined, but that didn't bother him. New strength surged through his limbs. His senses tingled like he'd been injected with caffeine. He reached the other side and put the old woman down as the camp's gates opened. Dozens of kids in armor poured out.**

**Hazel turned with a relieved smile. Then she looked over Percy's shoulder, and her expression changed to horror. "Frank!"**

"Oh no!" Yelled Percy. This was his entire fault.

**Frank was halfway across the river when the gorgons caught him. They swooped out of the sky and grabbed him by either arm. He screamed in pain as their claws dug into his skin.**

**The sentries yelled, but Percy knew they couldn't get a clear shot. They'd end up killing Frank. The other kids drew swords and got ready to charge into the water, but they'd be too late.**

**There was only one way.**

"Cue kickass Percy!" Yelled Thalia.

**Percy thrust out his hands. An intense tugging sensation filled his gut, and the Tiber obeyed his will. The river surged. Whirlpools formed on either side of Frank. Giant watery hands erupted from the stream, copying Percy's movements. The giant hands grabbed the gorgons, who dropped Frank in surprise. Then the hands lifted the squawking monsters in a liquid vise grip.**

"You are really powerful," said Artemis and Grover and all the demigods (except Percy) nodded.

"Too powerful," grumbled Zeus but everyone ignored him.

**Percy heard the other kids yelping and backing away, but he stayed focused on his task. He made a smashing gesture with his fists, and the giant hands plunged the gorgons into the Tiber. The monsters hit bottom and broke into dust. Glittering clouds of gorgon essence struggled to re-form, but the river pulled them apart like a blender. Soon every trace of the gorgons was swept downstream. The whirlpools vanished, and the current returned to normal.**

**Percy stood on the riverbank. His clothes and his skin steamed as if the Tiber's waters had given him an acid bath. He felt exposed, raw…vulnerable.**

"I imagine that is what happens when you suddenly don't have the curse of Achilles any more," said Annabeth.

**In the middle of the Tiber, Frank stumbled around, looking stunned but perfectly fine. Hazel waded out and helped him ashore. Only then did Percy realize how quiet the other kids had become.**

**Everyone was staring at him. **

"Why?" Asked Percy confused

"Why?" Asked Thalia incredulously. "You really have no idea how powerful you are? How scary you would be as an enemy?"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Thalia except Percy who just looked shocked.

**Only the old lady June looked unfazed.**

**"****Well, that was a lovely trip," she said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."**

**One of the girls made a choking sound. "Percy…Jackson?"**

"You know someone there?" Demanded Annabeth. Who was that girl?

"I-I don't think so," answered Percy a little nervous. Annabeth could be really scary.

**She sounded as if she recognized his name. Percy focused on her, hoping to see a familiar face.**

**She was obviously a leader. She wore a regal purple cloak over her armor. Her chest was decorated with medals. She must have been about Percy's age, with dark, piercing eyes and long black hair. Percy didn't recognize her, but the girl stared at him as if she'd seen him in her nightmares.**

"What did you do now, Percy?" Asked Grover.

"I didn't do anything!" Answered Percy. But then added: "I think."

Everyone laughed at him.

**June laughed with delight. "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together!"**

**Then, just because the day hadn't been weird enough already, the old lady began to glow and change form. She grew until she was a shining, seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that looked like goat's skin over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower.**

Hera smiled.

**If it was possible for the campers to look more stunned, they did. The girl with the purple cloak knelt. The others followed her lead. One kid got down so hastily he almost impaled himself on his sword.**

Everybody laughed.

"Idiot," muttered Ares.

**"****Hazel was the first to speak. "Juno."**

"So it was you!" Yelled Annabeth pointing at Hera.

"What?" Asked Percy.

"Juno is Hera's Roman counterpart," answered Annabeth.

"So you are telling me I carried _Hera_ all that time?" Asked Percy. When Annabeth nodded he grumbled: "I should have left her with the gorgons."

All the gods, demigods and Grover laughed while Hera glared at Percy.

**She and Frank also fell to their knees, leaving Percy the only one standing. He knew he should probably kneel too, but after carrying the old lady so far, he didn't feel like showing her that much respect.**

"You shouldn't," muttered Annabeth so only Percy who sat next to her could hear. He laughed.

**"****Juno, huh?" he said. "If I passed your test, can I have my memory and my life back?"**

**The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet."**

**She turned to the other kids. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. **

"He is the son of Poseidon, not Neptune," said Annabeth.

**For months he has been slumbering,**

"Slumbering?" Asked Percy. "What does that mean?"

Nobody answered because they didn't know.

**but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortune comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in the battle. Do not fail me!"**

**Juno shimmered and disappeared. Percy looked at Hazel and Frank for some kind of explanation, but they seemed just as confused as he was. Frank was holding something Percy hadn't noticed before—two small clay flasks with cork stoppers, like potions, one in each hand."**

"Gorgon blood," said Annabeth. "But they should be Percy's. It was him who killed them."

"It's okay," said Percy. "Maybe he is going to give them to me later."

**Percy had no idea where they'd come from, but he saw Frank slip them into his pockets. Frank gave him a look like: We'll talk about it later.**

"See?" Said Percy. "he wasn't just going to keep them."

**The girl in the purple cloak stepped forward. She examined Percy warily, and Percy couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to run him through with her dagger.**

"wow, she really must hate you," said Thalia.

**"****So," she said coldly, "a son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno."**

"That must have been really weird," said Annabeth. "I mean," she continued when everyone looked at her. " A son of the big three with the blessing of Hera/Juno who is known to hate demigods."

Everyone thought about it and then agreed. That was really weird.

**"****Look," he said, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do I know you?"**

**The girl hesitated. "I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And…no, I don't know you."**

"Yeah, right," said Nico sarcastically.

**That last part was a lie. Percy could tell from her eyes. But he also understood that if he argued with her about it here, in front of her soldiers, she wouldn't appreciate it.**

"Smart," nodded Athena.

**"****Hazel," said Reyna, "bring him inside. I want to question him at the principia. Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him."**

"What does she mean 'decide what to do with him'?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****What do you mean," Percy asked, "'decide what to do with' me?"**

"Awww, you even think the same!" Exclaimed Aphrodite. "You are the perfect couple."

Again both Percy and Annabeth blushed.

**Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Obviously she was not used to having her orders questioned. "Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us as a new recruit…"**

**Reyna studied Percy as if she found that doubtful.**

**"****Or," she said more hopefully, "If she's brought us "an enemy to kill."**

"They better not kill you," said Annabeth.

"That is the end of the chapter," Athena said. "Who wants to read?"

"I would like to, Lady Athena," said Thalia.

Athena gave the book to Thalia who found the right page.

"**Chapter 3: Percy**," read Thalia.


	4. Chapter three: Percy

**Here's chapter three. I was thinking about adding some more characters. What do you think? I has to be someone they know, so it can't be the rest of the seven, but maybe someone from Camp Half-Blood. Comment what you think :)**

**And I still don't own anything written in bold (except A/N). It is still Rick Riordan that owns it.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

"**Chapter 3: Percy**," read Thalia.

**PERCY WASN'T SCARED OF GHOSTS,**

"You shouldn't be," said Nico.

**which was lucky. Half the people in camp were dead.**

"Okay, that is a little weird," said Thalia. Everyone else agreed.

**Shimmering purple warriors stood outside the armory, polishing ethereal swords. Others hung out in front of the barracks. A ghostly boy chased a ghostly dog down the street. And at the stables, a big glowing red dude with the head of a wolf guarded a herd of…Were those unicorns?**

"They have unicorns?" Asked Annabeth.

**None of the campers paid the ghosts much attention, but as Percy's entourage walked by, with Reyna in the lead and Frank and Hazel on either side, all the spirits stopped what they were doing and stared at Percy. A few looked angry. The little boy ghost shrieked something like "Greggus!" and turned invisible.**

**Percy wished he could turn invisible too. After weeks on his own, all this attention made him uneasy. **

"You have always been uncomfortable talking in front of a lot of people," noted Annabeth.

"I guess," said Percy.

**He stayed between Hazel and Frank and tried to look inconspicuous.**

**"****Am I seeing things?" he asked. "Or are those—"**

**"****Ghosts?" Hazel turned. She had startling eyes, like fourteen-karat gold. "They're Lares. House gods."**

**"****House gods," Percy said. "Like…smaller than real gods, but larger than apartment gods?"**

"Only you, Percy," laughed Thalia. Everybody else were laughing too.

**"****They're ancestral spirits," Frank explained. He'd removed his helmet, revealing a babyish face that didn't go with his military haircut or his big burly frame. He looked like a toddler who'd taken steroids and joined the Marines.**

"Wow," said Nico. "You have such a nice way to describe people."

**"****The Lares are kind of like mascots," he continued. "Mostly they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated."**

**"****They're staring at me," Percy said. "That ghost kid called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg."**

"Really, Percy? Really?" Asked Annabeth shaking her head.

**"****Graecus," Hazel said. "Once you've been here awhile, you'll start understanding Latin. Demigods have a natural sense for it. Graecus means Greek."**

**"****Is that bad?" Percy asked.**

"No!" Said all the people in the room.

**Frank cleared his throat. "Maybe not. You've got that type of complexion, the dark hair and all. Maybe they think you're actually Greek. Is your family from there?"**

"Well, you could say that," said Annabeth smiling.

**"****Don't know. Like I said, my memory is gone."**

**"****Or maybe…" Frank hesitated.**

**"****What?" Percy asked.**

**"****Probably nothing," Frank said. "Romans and Greeks have an old rivalry. Sometimes Romans use graecus as an insult **

"So they think being called Greek is an insult?" Asked Thalia incredulously.

**for someone who's an outsider—an enemy. I wouldn't worry about it."**

**He sounded pretty worried.**

**They stopped at the center of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a ****T****.**

**"****A street sign labelled the road to the main gates as via praetoria. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp, was labelled via principalis. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like Berkeley 5 miles; NEW ROME 1 MILE; OLD ROME 7280 MILES; HADES 2310 MILES **

"Why would it say Hades when they are Roman?" Asked Annabeth. "Shouldn't it say Pluto?"

Everyone shrugged not knowing the answer.

**(pointing straight down); RENO 208 MILES, AND CERTAIN DEATH: YOU ARE HERE!**

"Wow, that's reassuring," said Thalia sarcastically.

**For certain death, the place looked pretty clean and orderly. The buildings were freshly whitewashed, laid out in neat grids like the camp had been designed by a fussy math teacher. **

"A fussy math teacher," laughed Nico.

"What?" Asked Percy blushing. "How should I know someone was going to read my thoughts?"

Everybody just laughed at him.

**The barracks had shady porches, where campers lounged in hammocks or played cards and drank sodas. Each dorm had a different collection of banners out front displaying Roman numerals and various animals—eagle, bear, wolf, horse, and something that looked like a hamster.**

**Along the Via Praetoria, rows of shops advertised food, armor, weapons, coffee, gladiator equipment, and toga rentals. A chariot dealership had a big advertisement out front: CAESAR XLS W/ANTILOCK BRAKES, NO DENARII DOWN!**

"What are denarii?" Asked Percy.

"Roman money. Like we have drachma," explained Annabeth.

"Okay, thanks," said Percy smiling at Annabeth.

**At one corner of the crossroads stood the most impressive building—a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out front. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.**

**"****Your headquarters?" Percy asked.**

**Reyna faced him, her eyes still cold and hostile. **

"You better watch out, Percy," said Annabeth. "You don't need another enemy."

"I think that's too late. She doesn't look like she is going to change her mind about me anytime soon," sighed Percy. He really did have way too many enemies.

**"****It's called the principia."**

**She scanned the mob of curious campers who had followed them from the river. "Everyone back to your duties. I'll give you an update at evening muster. Remember, we have war games after dinner."**

"Yes! War games!" Yelled Ares. "Finally something interesting."

**The thought of dinner made Percy's stomach rumble. The scent of barbecue from the dining hall made his mouth water. The bakery down the street smelled pretty wonderful too, but he doubted Reyna would let him get an order to go.**

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Nico.

**The crowd dispersed reluctantly. Some muttered comments about Percy's chances.**

**"****He's dead," said one.**

**"****Would be those two who found him," said another.**

**"****Yeah," muttered another. "Let him join the Fifth Cohort. Greeks and geeks."**

"There's nothing wrong with being Greek!" Yelled Thalia.

**Several kids laughed at that, but Reyna scowled at them, and they cleared off.**

**"****Hazel," Reyna said. "Come with us. I want your report on what happened at the gates."**

**"****Me too?" Frank said. "Percy saved my life. We've got to let him—"**

**Reyna gave Frank such a harsh look, he stepped back.**

"She sounds very hostile," said Annabeth.

**"****I'd remind you, Frank Zhang," she said, "you are on probatio yourself. You've caused enough trouble this week."**

"Poor Frank," said Aphrodite.

**Frank's ears turned red. He fiddled with a little tablet on a cord around his neck. Percy hadn't paid much attention to it, but it looked like a nametag made out of lead.**

**"****Go to the armory," Reyna told him. "Check our inventory. I'll call you if I need you."**

**"****But—" Frank caught himself. "Yes, Reyna."**

**He hurried off.**

**Reyna waved Hazel and Percy toward the headquarters. "Now, Percy Jackson, let's see if we can improve your memory."**

"Yes, that would be nice," said Percy. He really wanted his memory back.

"You are going to get your memory back," said Annabeth and touched his arm to comfort him.

Percy smiled at her in thanks and Annabeth smiled back.

Then Nico cleared his throat and they turned away from each other, their faces totally red.

"Look at how cute they are!" Cooed Aphrodite.

Thalia who could see her two friends were about to die from embarrassment hurried on reading.

**The principia was even more impressive inside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf (Lupa had told Percy that story a million times). The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet, so Percy felt like he was inside the world's most expensive camping tent. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals—military symbols, Percy guessed. In the center was one empty display stand, as if the main banner had been taken down for cleaning or something.**

"I think I've read something about a missing banner," said Annabeth, frowning. "I just can't remember the story."

**In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. Percy wondered what was down there—monsters? Treasure? Amnesiac demigods who had gotten on Reyna's bad side?**

"Yes, she has a whole prison filled with amnesiac demigods she doesn't like," said Nico, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

**In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans, which seemed kind of out of place. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table. Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs. Percy wished he could sit in the other, but Hazel remained standing. Percy got the feeling he was supposed to also.**

"Good idea," said Annabeth.

**"****So…" he started to say.**

**The dog statues bared their teeth and growled.**

**Percy froze. Normally he liked dogs, but these glared at him with ruby eyes. Their fangs looked sharp as razors.**

**"****Easy, guys," Reyna told the greyhounds.**

**They stopped growling, but kept eyeing Percy as though they were imagining him in a doggie bag.**

**"****They won't attack," Reyna said, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."**

**"****Silver and Gold," Percy said. The Latin meanings popped into his head like Hazel had said they would.**

"But you shouldn't be able to understand Latin that well," said Athena confused. "You are a Greek demigod, not at Roman demigod."

**He almost asked which dog was which. Then he realized that that was a stupid question.**

"Yes, that would be a stupid question," Thalia said.

**Reyna set her dagger on the table. Percy had the vague feeling he'd seen her before.**

"So you do know her!" Exclaimed Annabeth.

"I think," answered Percy.

**Her hair was black and glossy as volcanic rock, woven in a single braid down her back. She had the poise of a sword fighter—relaxed yet vigilant, as if ready to spring into action at any moment. The worry lines around her eyes made her look older than she probably was."**

"Well, if she's the leader of this camp all by herself, it must be hard," said Annabeth.

"Poor girl," said Hestia, making everybody jump. She had been so quiet everybody forgot she was there.

**"****We have met," he decided. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything—"**

**"****First things first," Reyna said. **

"She doesn't want to tell you," realised Annabeth. "She wants you to remember."

**"****I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars."**

**Argentum and Aurum snarled to emphasize the point.**

**Percy told his story—how he'd woken up at the ruined mansion in the woods of Sonoma. He described his time with Lupa and her pack, learning their language of gestures and expressions, learning to survive and fight.**

**Lupa had taught him about demigods, monsters, and gods. She'd explained that she was one of the guardian spirits of Ancient Rome. Demigods like Percy were still responsible for carrying on Roman traditions in modern times—fighting monsters, serving the gods, protecting mortals, and upholding the memory of the empire. She'd spent weeks training him, until he was as strong and tough and vicious as a wolf. When she was satisfied with his skills, she'd sent him south, telling him that if he survived the journey, he might find a new home and regain his memory.**

"I don't know if that is a better of worse way than ours," said Thalia.

"But what about their parents?" Asked Annabeth. "Don't they live with their parents?"

"Oh no!" cried Percy.

"What?" Asked Everybody.

"I have been gone for months in the book," said Percy. "My mom must be going out of her mind with worry." He looked liked he was about to cry.

"Hey, it is not your fault," said Annabeth soothingly and hugged him. "I am sure Chiron told your mom what happened."

"Yeah, you are probably right," said Percy trying to calm himself down.

"Always," said Annabeth and Percy laughed.

Everyone else in the room was just looking at them.

Aphrodite was thinking about how cute they were.

Hera was thinking that, that was how you should treat your mother.

Artemis was thinking about how Percy really was different from all the other males she had met.

Thalia and Grover were thinking that Annabeth and Percy really should just get together because it was obvious they liked each other.

And Nico was looking sadly at Percy and Annabeth. Fortunately for him no one noticed.

Finally Thalia started reading again.

**None of it seemed to surprise Reyna. In fact, she seemed to find it pretty ordinary—except for one thing.**

**"****No memory at all?" she asked. "You still remember nothing?"**

**"****Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds. He didn't want to mention Annabeth. **

"Why?" Asked Annabeth. Was he embarrassed of her?

**It seemed too private, and he was still confused about where to find her. He was sure they'd met at a camp—but this one didn't feel like the right place.**

"That's because it isn't," said Annabeth.

"I know," Percy said.

**Also, he was reluctant to share his one clear memory: Annabeth's face, her blond hair and grey eyes, the way she laughed, threw her arms around him, and gave him a kiss **

"So you are together in the future!" Shrieked Aphrodite.

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, both blushing, and then suddenly they both leaned in and met in a kiss.

It wasn't exactly their first kiss, Annabeth did kiss Percy in Mount St. Helens, but this was so much more. This time it wasn't just a kiss because one of them was afraid the other one wouldn't survive, this was a real kiss.

Then Thalia yelled: "Finally," which brought them back to the real world and they broke apart, faces red, but with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Aphrodite was staring at them like they were her favourite movie.

Grover, Hermes and Apollo were congratulating Percy who now had his arm around Annabeth's shoulders.

Almost everyone was happy for them; even Artemis was smiling.

The only ones not happy were Athena, who was trying to glare a hole in Percy's head, Zeus, who couldn't care less, and the son of Hades who was looking down at his lap with a sad expression.

Then Thalia started reading again.

**whenever he did something stupid.**

"She must have kissed you a lot," joked Thalia.

**She must have kissed me a lot, Percy thought.**

"Nooo! I think like Percy!" Fake-wailed Thalia.

"There is nothing wrong with thinking like me!" Yelled Percy while everyone laughed.

**He feared that if he spoke about that memory to anyone, it would evaporate like a dream. He couldn't risk that.**

"You are really sweet," said Annabeth kissing Percy's cheek. Percy blushed but had a smile on his face.

**Reyna spun her dagger. "Most of what you're describing is normal for demigods. At a certain age, one way or another, we find our way to the Wolf House. We're tested and trained.**

**If Lupa thinks we're worthy, she sends us south to join the legion. But I've never heard of someone losing his memory. How did you find Camp Jupiter?"**

**Percy told her about the last three days—the gorgons who wouldn't die, the old lady who turned out to be a goddess, and finally meeting Hazel and Frank at the tunnel in the hill.**

**Hazel took the story from there. She described Percy as brave and heroic, which made him uncomfortable. **

"You are way to modest," said Thalia fondly.

"Yep, that's Percy," agreed Annabeth and Percy looked away, not agreeing. He always had someone to help him.

**All he'd done was carry a hippie bag lady.**

**Reyna studied him. "You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?"**

**"****I think so," Percy said.**

"So this is happening in about two years?" Asked Percy.

"Apparently," said Annabeth.

**"****If you spent that many years on your own, without training or help, you should be dead. A son of Neptune? You'd have a powerful aura that would attract all kinds of monsters."**

**"****Yeah," Percy said. "I've been told that I smell."**

Everyone smiled at that.

**Reyna almost cracked a smile, which gave Percy hope. Maybe she was human after all.**

**"****You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," she said.**

"Yes, Camp Half-Blood," Answered all the demigods and Grover fondly. Camp Half-Blood was their home.

**Percy shrugged. Juno had said something about him slumbering, and he did have a vague feeling that he'd been asleep—maybe for a long time. But that didn't make sense.**

**Reyna sighed. "Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so I suppose you're telling the truth."**

**"****Great," Percy said. "Next time, can I take a polygraph?"**

**Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth.**

**"****Even if I accept that you're not an enemy,"**

"He's not," said Annabeth.

**she said, "you're not a typical recruit. The Queen of Olympus simply doesn't appear at camp, announcing a new demigod. The last time a major god visited us in person like that…" She shook her head. "I've only heard legends about such things. And a son of Neptune…that's not a good omen. **

"What is wrong with Neptune?" Demanded Poseidon.

**Especially now."**

"And what does she mean 'especially now'?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****What's wrong with Neptune?" Percy asked.**

"Like father like son," laughed Apollo and Hermes.

**"****And what do you mean, 'especially now'?"**

"Wow, you really do think alike," said Thalia pointing at Percy and Annabeth.

"Just kill me now," sighed Annabeth but she was smiling so people knew she was joking.

**Hazel shot him a warning look.**

**Reyna kept pacing. "You've fought Medusa's sisters, who haven't been seen in thousands of years. You've agitated our Lares, who are calling you a graecus. And you wear strange symbols—that shirt, the beads on your necklace. What do they mean?"**

**Percy looked down at his tattered orange T-shirt. It might have had words on it at one point, but they were too faded to read. He should have thrown the shirt away weeks ago. It was worn to shreds, but he couldn't bear to get rid of it. He just kept washing it in streams and water fountains as best he could and putting it back on.**

**As for the necklace, the four clay beads were each decorated with a different symbol. One showed a trident. **

"When I was claimed," Percy smiled at Poseidon who smiled back.

**Another displayed a miniature Golden Fleece. **

"When we found the Golden Fleece and saved Thalia," said Annabeth and Thalia smiled.

**The third was etched with the design of a maze, **

"That was from this summer. Daedalus' Labyrinth," said Annabeth. Everyone looked down sadly thinking of campers who died in the battle.

**and the last had an image of a building—maybe the Empire State Building?—with names Percy didn't recognize engraved around it. **

"So that is from next summer?" Asked Percy.

"Yeah, I wonder what it means," answered Annabeth.

**The beads felt important, like pictures from a family album, but he couldn't remember what they meant.**

**"****I don't know," he said.**

**"****And your sword?" Reyna asked.**

"How did she know you had a sword?" Asked Annabeth.

**Percy checked his pocket. The pen had reappeared as it always did. He pulled it out, but then realized he'd never shown Reyna the sword. Hazel and Frank hadn't seen it either. How had Reyna known about it?**

"That's what I would like to know," said Annabeth.

**Too late to pretend it didn't exist… He uncapped the pen. Riptide sprang to full form. Hazel gasped. The greyhounds barked apprehensively.**

**"****What is that?" Hazel asked. "I've never seen a sword like that."**

"Don't they have Celestial bronze?" Asked Percy.

The gods shook their heads but didn't say anything.

**"****I have," Reyna said darkly. "It's very old—a Greek design. We used to have a few in the armory before…" She stopped herself. "The metal is called Celestial bronze. It's deadly to monsters, like Imperial gold, but even rarer."**

"Imperial gold?" Asked Nico.

**"****Imperial gold?" Percy asked.**

**Reyna unsheathed her dagger. Sure enough, the blade was gold. "The metal was consecrated in ancient times, at the Pantheon in Rome. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors—a way for their champions to slay monsters that threatened the empire. We used to have more weapons like this, but now…well, we scrape by. **

"How come we have tons of Celestial bronze," said Annabeth amazed.

**I use this dagger. Hazel has a spatha, a cavalry sword. Most legionnaires use a shorter sword called a gladius. But that weapon of yours is not Roman at all. It's another sign you're not a typical demigod. And your arm..."**

**"****What about it?" Percy asked.**

**Reyna held up her own forearm. Percy hadn't noticed before, but she had a tattoo on the inside: the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, and under that, four parallel lines like score marks.**

"So they don't use beads?" Asked Annabeth amazed. "They give you a tattoo?"

**Percy glanced at Hazel.**

**"****We all have them," she confirmed, holding up her arm. "All full members of the legion do."**

**Hazel's tattoo also had the letters SPQR, but she only had one score mark, and her emblem was different: a black glyph like a cross with curved arms and a head.**

**Percy looked at his own arms. A few scrapes, some mud, and a fleck of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wiener, but no tattoos.**

**"****So you've never been a member of the legion," Reyna said. "These marks can't be removed. I thought perhaps…" She shook her head, as if dismissing an idea.**

**Hazel leaned forward. "If he's survived as a loner all this time, maybe he's seen Jason." **

"Jason?" Asked Thalia with big eyes.

"Who's Jason?" Asked Nico but Thalia just shook her head. It couldn't be _her_ Jason.

**She turned to Percy. "Have you ever met a demigod like us before? A guy in a purple shirt, with marks on his arm—"**

"So they have also lost someone from their camp?" Asked Annabeth suspiciously. That couldn't be a coincidence.

**"****Hazel." Reyna's voice tightened. "Percy's got enough to worry about."**

**Percy touched the point of his sword, and Riptide shrank back into a pen. "I haven't seen anyone like you guys before. Who's Jason?"**

**Reyna gave Hazel an irritated look. "He is…he was my colleague." **

"Uhhh! I think he was a little more than that," said Aphrodite.

**She waved her hand at the second empty chair. "The legion normally has two elected praetors. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, **

"Jason?" Thalia let out a sob.

"Thalia, do you know him?" Asked Percy confused.

"I-I... No!" Thalia shook her head. She didn't want them to know.

"Are you sure?" Asked Annabeth gently. "Because that was kind of a big reaction to someone you don't know."

Everybody was looking at Thalia expectantly (except Zeus who looked a little nervous and Hera who glared at her) and she finally gave in and told them.

"I… He is my brother," she said and everybody, except Zeus and Hera, gasped. "I thought he was dead."

"When you say brother…?" Asked Annabeth.

"My full-blooded brother," sobbed Thalia. "my mother told me he was dead!"

"It's okay," said Annabeth hugging Thalia. "When we are done here we can try finding him."

Seeing that Thalia was in no condition to read Grover took the book from her and started reading.

**was our other praetor until he disappeared last October."**

**Percy tried to calculate. He hadn't paid much attention to the calendar out in the wilderness, but Juno had mentioned that it was now June. "You mean he's been gone eight months, and you haven't replaced him?"**

"So Reyna has been taking care of the camp _alone_ for eight months," said Annabeth. "Wow."

**"****He might not be dead," Hazel said. "We haven't given up."**

**Reyna grimaced. Percy got the feeling this guy Jason might've been more to her than just a colleague.**

**"****Elections only happen in two ways," Reyna said. "Either the legion raises someone on a shield after a major success on the battlefield—and we haven't had any major battles—or we hold a ballot on the evening of June 24, at the Feast of Fortuna. That's in five days."**

**Percy frowned. "You have a feast for tuna?"**

"Really Percy? It's _Fortuna_," said Nico. "As in the goddess of luck."

**"****Fortuna," Hazel corrected. "She's the goddess of luck. Whatever happens on her feast day can affect the entire rest of the year. She can grant the camp good luck…or really bad luck."**

**Reyna and Hazel both glanced at the empty display stand, as if thinking about what was missing.**

**A chill went down Percy's back. "The Feast of Fortune… The gorgons mentioned that. So did Juno. They said the camp was going to be attacked on that day, something about a big bad goddess named Gaea, and an army, and Death being unleashed. You're telling me that day is this week?"**

"Another hopeless deadline," grimaced Percy. He hated deadlines.

**Reyna's fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger.**

**"****You will say nothing about that outside this room," she ordered. "I will not have you spreading more panic in the camp."**

**"****So it's true," Percy said. "Do you know what's going to happen? Can we stop it?"**

"You have lost you memory and you have no idea where you are and you _still _want to help others before yourself," said Annabeth shaking her head fondly.

**Percy had just met these people. He wasn't sure he even liked Reyna. But he wanted to help. They were demigods, the same as him. They had the same enemies. Besides, Percy remembered what Juno had told him: it wasn't just this camp at risk. His old life, the gods, and the entire world might be destroyed. Whatever was coming down, it was huge.**

"If it's Gaea, then yes," Said Annabeth. "It is huge."

**"****We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion."**

**"****Yes, Reyna."**

**Percy still had so many questions; his brain felt like it would melt. **

"I have a feeling your brain always feels like that," teased Thalia. She was feeling better now and she just found out her brother was alive. It was good news.

Percy just stuck his tongue out.

**But Reyna made it clear the audience was over. She sheathed her dagger. The metal dogs stood and growled, inching toward Percy.**

**"****Good luck with the augury, Percy Jackson," she said. "If Octavian lets you live, **

"He better let you live," said Annabeth dangerously.

"I am right here," said Percy kissing her cheek. "And I'm not going anywhere," he whispered in her ear making her shudder.

**perhaps we can compare notes…about your past."**

"Done," said Grover.

"Should we eat?" Asked Artemis.

"How about we eat while we read?" Asked Athena. She really wanted to read.

They all agreed to that so the gods and goddesses made a table and all the demigods favourite food appear.

"Who wants to read next?" Asked Grover.

"I would," said Artemis.

Grover gave Artemis the book and she found the right page.

"**Chapter 4: Percy**," she read.


	5. Chapter four: Percy

**Chapter four and I still don't own anything written in bold. It is owned by the amazing Rick Riordan :)**

**I hope you like it **

* * *

"**Chapter 4: Percy**," read Artemis.

**ON THE WAY OUT OF CAMP, Hazel bought him an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant.**

**Percy inhaled the muffin. The coffee was great. Now, Percy thought, if he could just get a shower, a change of clothes, and some sleep, he'd be golden. Maybe even Imperial golden.**

"Haha," said Thalia sarcastically.

**He watched a bunch of kids in swimsuits and towels head into a building that had steam coming out of a row of chimneys. Laughter and watery sounds echoed from inside, like it was an indoor pool—**

"My kind of place," said Percy wistfully.

**Percy's kind of place.**

"You really don't change," laughed Thalia.

**"****Bath house," Hazel said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath." Percy sighed with anticipation.**

**As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better—with fancier armor and shinier auras. Percy tried to decipher the banners and symbols hanging in front of the buildings.**

**"****You guys are divided into different cabins?" he asked.**

**"****Sort of." Hazel ducked as a kid riding a giant eagle swooped overhead. "We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten—like roommates, kind of."**

**Percy had never been great at math, but he tried to multiply. "You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?"**

"Wow, you got it right," said Annabeth amazed.

**"****Roughly."**

**"****And all of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy."**

"Hey!" Yelled all the gods.

"You make us sound like sluts," pouted Aphrodite.

"That's because you are," mumbled Annabeth so only the demigods and Grover could hear.

They all laughed while the gods looked at them in confusion.

**Hazel laughed. "Not all of them are children of major gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies—second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods. Or their grandparents."**

"Children of demigods?" Asked Percy amazed. "I didn't think anyone survived long enough to have children."

All the demigods looked shocked.

**Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"**

**"****Why? Does that surprise you?"**

**Percy wasn't sure. The last few weeks he'd been so worried about surviving day to day. The idea of living long enough to be an adult and have kids of his own—that seemed like an impossible dream.**

"Yeah, it does," sighed Annabeth.

**"****These Legos—"**

"Legos, Percy?" Laughed Nico.

**"****Legacies," Hazel corrected.**

**"****They have powers like a demigod?"**

**"****Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors—you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. **

"Ugh, I hate that kid," groaned Apollo.

**He's got the gift of prophecy, supposedly."**

"Supposedly?" Asked Annabeth.

"Just wait," answered Apollo.

**"****Supposedly?"**

**Hazel made a sour face. "You'll see."**

**That didn't make Percy feel so great, if this dude Octavian had Percy's fate in his hands.**

**"****So the divisions," he asked, "the cohorts, whatever—you're divided according to who your godly parent is?"**

**Hazel stared at him. "What a horrible idea! **

"Hey!" Yelled all the demigods and Grover.

**No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone."**

"Just like us," said Percy to Thalia.

"Yeah, and it does kind of suck," said Thalia and Percy agreed.

**Percy felt a twinge of sadness, like he'd been in that situation. "Why? What's your ancestry?"**

Everyone leaned forward wanting to know.

**Before she could answer, someone behind them yelled, "Wait!"**

"No fair! I want to know whose kid she is," pouted Apollo.

**A ghost ran toward them—an old man with a medicine-ball belly and toga so long he kept tripping on it. He caught up to them and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him.**

**"****This is him?" the ghost panted. "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"**

**"****Vitellius," Hazel said, "we're sort of in a hurry."**

**"****The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around him, inspecting him like a used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does he have all his teeth? Can he fight? Does he clean stables?"**

"Yes, yes, and yes," answered Nico.

**"****Yes, yes, and no," Percy said. **

"Are you sure, Percy?" Snickered Nico while Annabeth laughed beside him. "Because I'm pretty sure you do."

**"****Who are you?"**

**"****Percy, this is Vitellius." Hazel's expression said: Just humor him. "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits."**

**On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.**

**"****Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day—that's Julius Caesar, mind you—the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a spatha. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire—that's for cavalry! And you, boy—you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"**

"He has been a little busy fighting monsters," hissed Annabeth.

**"****I've been a little busy fighting gorgons," Percy said.**

**"****Vitellius," Hazel interrupted, "we've got to get Percy's augury before he can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help."**

"Sure, just send him after Frank," said Nico.

**The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty! They let the probatio check the armor? We'll be ruined!"**

**He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.**

**"****O-h-h-kay," Percy said.**

**"****Sorry," Hazel said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."**

**"****He called the legion…Fulminata?" Percy said.**

**"'****Armed with Lightning,'" Hazel translated. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."**

"Just like Camp Half-Blood," said Annabeth.

**As bizarre as that sounded, Percy had no trouble believing it. In fact, it sounded familiar, like something he'd always known.**

**"****And you're in the Fifth Cohort," he guessed, "which maybe isn't the most popular?"**

**Hazel scowled. "Yeah. I joined up last September."**

**"****So…just a few weeks before that guy Jason disappeared."**

"Percy! That was rude," scowled Annabeth hitting Percy on the shoulder.

"Sorry," yelped Percy and then added: "mom," when she wasn't listening. Thalia, Nico and Grover were the only ones who heard it and they all laughed.

**Percy knew he'd hit a sore spot. Hazel looked down. She was silent long enough to count every paving stone.**

**"****Come on," she said at last. "I'll show you my favourite view."**

**They stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything.**

**The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome. Unlike the military camp, the city looked chaotic and colorful, with buildings crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, Percy could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.**

**"****You've got families here?" he asked.**

**"****In the city, absolutely," Hazel said. **

"Wow," said Annabeth.

**"****When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some—well, it's pretty dangerous out there. This valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. **

"Why don't we have something like that?" Demanded Annabeth.

I don't know," answered Percy. "Maybe we should talk to Chiron when we get back?"

"Okay," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

**It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion."**

**Adult demigods. Demigods, who could live without fear, get married, raise a family. Percy couldn't quite wrap his mind around that.**

"Yeah, me neither," agreed Nico.

**It seemed too good to be true. "But if this valley is attacked?"**

**Hazel pursed her lips. "We have defenses. The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing. What you said about the gorgons not dying…we've noticed that too, with other monsters."**

**"****Do you know what's causing it?"**

**Hazel looked away. Percy could tell that she was holding something back—something she wasn't supposed to say.**

"She knows something," said Annabeth.

"But what?" Asked Thalia.

**"****It's—it's complicated," she said. "My brother **

"I thought she said she would have been alone if the camp were divided by godly parent," said Nico confused.

"She did say that," agreed Percy.

"Then how can she have a brother?" Asked Nico.

Everyone just shrugged.

**says Death isn't—"**

**She was interrupted by an elephant.**

"An elephant?" Asked Athena. "Are you sure you read that right?"

"Yes, I did," said Artemis reading the line again just to be sure.

**Someone behind them shouted, "Make way!"**

**Hazel dragged Percy out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar armor. The word elephant was printed on the side of his armor, which seemed a little obvious to Percy.**

**The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction.**

**Percy spit dust out of his mouth. "What the—?"**

**"****Elephant," Hazel explained.**

**"****Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"**

**"****War games tonight," Hazel said. "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."**

"Obviously," agreed Nico sarcastically.

**"****We can't have that."**

**Hazel laughed. It was hard to believe she'd looked so moody a moment ago. Percy wondered what she'd been about to say. She had a brother. Yet she had claimed she'd be alone if the camp sorted her by her godly parent.**

"That is weird," agreed Annabeth.

**Percy couldn't figure her out. She seemed nice and easy going; mature for somebody who couldn't have been more than thirteen. But she also seemed to be hiding a deep sadness, like she felt guilty about something.**

"Wow," Said Thalia. "You are actually really good at reading people."

"Thanks," said Percy blushing.

**Hazel pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.**

**"****Octavian is busy," Hazel said. "We'd better get over there."**

**On the way, they passed some goat-legged guys hanging out on the side of the road.**

"Satyrs," exclaimed Grover.

**"****Hazel!" one of them cried.**

**He trotted over with a big grin on his face. He wore a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur. His massive Afro jiggled. His eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He held a cardboard sign that read: WILL ****WORK SING TALK**** go away for denarii.**

"What?" Bleated Grover angrily. "That is not how satyrs behave."

**"****Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time—"**

**"****Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with them. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and—"**

**"****Don," Hazel chided. "Fauns don't have wallets. Or jobs. Or homes. **

"This is all wrong!" Cried Grover.

"Hey man, it's okay," said Percy trying to cheer him up. "We know that's not how satyrs normally are."

"Yeah, maybe fauns are just… different," agreed Thalia.

That seemed to cheer Grover up because he gave them both a small smile.

**And we don't have buses."**

**"****Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"**

**"****Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked.**

Everybody laughed.

"Poor guy," said Hermes.

**"****Yeah. So?"**

**"****Nothing." Percy tried to keep a straight face. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?"**

"Yes they should!" Agreed Grover.

**Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"**

**"****Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. **

"Satyrs are hard workers!" Yelled Grover.

"We know," said Percy.

**We tolerate them, but—"**

**"****Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"**

Everybody laughed. Again.

**The faun seemed harmless, but Percy still found him unsettling. He couldn't shake the feeling that fauns should be more than just homeless guys begging for denarii.**

"That is because they are," said Grover and then frowned and said: "Well, satyrs are."

**Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!"**

**He reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!"**

"I wonder what it is that could have shaken her so much," said Annabeth concerned. She really liked Hazel. She helped Percy when she herself couldn't.

**She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small shiny object. Percy caught a glimpse of it before Hazel slipped it into her pocket. He could have sworn it was a diamond.**

"A diamond?" Asked Hades nervously. It was the first time he spoke and everybody looked at him suspiciously, but he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice.

**"****Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"**

**"****Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."**

**She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant.**

**The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by—"**

**"****Good-bye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, Percy."**

**She started jogging. Percy had to sprint to catch up.**

**"****What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road—"**

"Don't you have any tact, Percy?" Complained Annabeth.

"I do. I just choose not to use it," Percy answered.

**"****Please," she said. "Don't ask."**

**They walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods seemed to follow Percy with their eyes.**

"Creepy," shuddered Nico.

"You're one to talk, Death Breath," countered Thalia.

"Pinecone Face!"

Seeing an argument about to come Artemis hurried on reading.

**Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. "Goddess of war," **

"Good for nothing goddess who stole my element," grumbled Athena but everyone ignored her.

**she said. "That's Reyna's mom." Then they passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.**

**"****Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said.**

**Hazel shook her head. "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."**

"My temple!" Yelled Ares, his form shimmering a little.

**"****Mars ... Ares, the war god?"**

**"****That's his Greek name," Hazel said. "But, yeah, same guy. Ultor means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome."**

"Yes I am!" Ares boasted.

**Percy wasn't thrilled to hear that. For some reason, just looking at the ugly red building made him feel angry."**

"Even though you don't remember him you still hate him," laughed Annabeth and Grover.

**He pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Zeus—uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?"**

**"****Yeah." Hazel sounded edgy. "Octavian reads auguries there—the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."**

**Percy had to think about it, but the Latin words clicked into English. "Jupiter…the best and the greatest?"**

Zeus shimmered but smiled smugly at all the other gods who just rolled their eyes at him.

"I still don't understand how you can be so good at Latin," complained Annabeth.

**"****Right."**

**"****What's Neptune's title?" Percy asked. "The coolest and most awesome?"**

"Not quite," sighed Poseidon. "I am not exactly the most popular Roman god."

**"****Um, not quite." Hazel gestured to a small blue building the size of a tool-shed. A cobweb-covered trident was nailed above the door.**

**Percy peeked inside. On a small altar sat a bowl with three dried-up, moldy apples.**

**His heart sank. "Popular place."**

**"****I'm sorry, Percy," Hazel said. "It's just…Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they had to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. **

"Why?" Asked Percy.

**The last time one joined the legion…Well, it was 1906, when Camp Jupiter was located across the bay in San Francisco. There was this huge earthquake—"**

"A child of Neptune caused that?" Asked Annabeth wide-eyed.

**"****You're telling me a child of Neptune caused that?"**

**"****So they say." Hazel looked apologetic. "Anyway…"**

**"****Romans fear Neptune, but they don't love him much." Percy stared at the cobwebs on the trident. Great, he thought. Even if he joined the camp, he would never be loved. **

"You really are the most unlucky person in the world," said Nico sadly.

**His best hope was to be scary to his new campmates. Maybe if he did really well, they'd give him some moldy apples.**

**Still…standing at Neptune's altar, he felt something stirring inside him, like waves rippling through his veins.**

**He reached in his backpack and dug out the last bit of food from his trip—a stale bagel. It wasn't much, but he set it on the altar.**

Poseidon smiled at his son.

**"****Hey…uh, Dad." He felt pretty stupid talking to a bowl of fruit. "If you can hear me, help me out, okay? Give me my memory back. Tell me—tell me what to do."**

"I wish I could," said Poseidon sadly.

**His voice cracked. He hadn't meant to get emotional, but he was exhausted and scared, and he'd been lost for so long, he would've given anything for some guidance. He wanted to know something about his life for sure, without grabbing for missing memories.**

Annabeth hugged Percy tightly and whispered: "It's going to be okay," in his ear. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. They both needed the comfort right now.

**Hazel put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. You're here now. You're one of us."**

**He felt awkward, depending on an eighth-grade girl he barely knew for comfort, but he was glad she was there.**

**Above them, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill.**

**"****Octavian's almost done," Hazel said. "Let's go."**

**Compared to Neptune's tool shed, Jupiter's temple was definitely optimus and maximus.**

"Of course," boasted Zeus shimmering.

**The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.**

**In the center stood a marble altar, where a kid in a toga was doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.**

**"****It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered.**

**"****What?" Hazel asked.**

**"****The master bolt," Percy said.**

"You would know," laughed Grover.

"Why?" Asked Nico and Thalia, having never heard about their first quest.

"My first quest was to find the bolt," explained Percy.

"Oh," they said, not knowing what else to say.

**"****What are you talking about?"**

"Now you're just confusing her," laughed Annabeth.

**"****I—" Percy frowned. For a second, he'd thought he remembered something. Now it was gone. **

Percy sighed and Annabeth rubbed his arm to comfort him.

**"****Nothing, I guess."**

**The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from grey to white and broke apart.**

**A pretty impressive trick, considering the kid didn't look like much. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga. He looked like a scarecrow wearing a bed sheet.**

Everyone laughed.

"He sounds _so_ attractive," joked Annabeth.

**"****What's he doing?" Percy murmured.**

**The guy in the toga turned. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, like he'd just been playing an intense video game. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was something like a dead animal. That didn't make him look any less crazy.**

"You are making your augur kill innocent animals, _brother_?" Asked Artemis dangerously.

"What? No!" said Apollo nervously. What was that kid doing?

**"****Percy," Hazel said, "This is Octavian."**

**"****The graecus!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."**

**"****Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?"**

**Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."**

**He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disembowelled teddy bear. **

"Seriously?" Laughed Nico.

**Then Percy noticed that there was a whole pile of mutilated stuffed animals at the foot of Jupiter's statue.**

**"****Seriously?" Percy asked.**

**Octavian stepped off the dais. He was probably about eighteen, but so skinny and sickly pale; he could've passed for younger. At first he looked harmless, but as he got closer, Percy wasn't so sure. Octavian's eyes glittered with harsh curiosity, like he might gut Percy just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it.**

"Like I said: I hate that kid," groaned Apollo.

**Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."**

**"****You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who."**

"Who?" Asked everyone in the room.

Percy looked at all of them. He wasn't sure if he should say it or not so he just said: "I don't know."

**"****Possibly my namesake, Octavian—Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance."**

"I'm sure everyone says that," said Thalia sarcastically.

**Percy didn't think that was it, but he couldn't pin down the memory. "Why did you call me 'the Greek'?"**

"Because you are Greek," said Annabeth.

**"****I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The Greek has arrived. Or possibly: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. **

"Nah, it is probably the second," said Thalia laughing.

**You seek to join the legion?"**

**Hazel spoke for him. She told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel—the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, their conversation with Reyna.**

**When she mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.**

**"****Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats."**

**He glanced at Percy, as if to say: like mysterious Greeks, for instance.**

"It doesn't make us an enemy just because we're Greek!" Yelled Thalia.

**"****I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"**

**"****Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."**

**"****Don't you have…I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"**

"Yeah, why don't they have an oracle?" Asked Percy.

**"****An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended—"**

**"****The Siba-what?" Percy asked.**

"Come on, Seaweed Brain, even you should know about them," said Annabeth.

**"****Books of prophecy," Hazel said, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell."**

**"****Some people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them—"**

**"****Because Reyna isn't stupid," Hazel said.**

**"—****so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."**

**He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor. Percy stared at the lines of words, not really expecting to understand them. He almost choked.**

"Why?" Asked Annabeth concerned.

**"****That one." He pointed, translating as he read aloud: "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"**

**"****Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."**

"I have never heard that before," said Annabeth and everyone else agreed.

"I must be new," said Nico.

**"****I—I know that one." Percy thought thunder was shaking the temple again. Then he realized his whole body was trembling. "That's important."**

"Do you think it could be the new great prophecy?" Asked Percy nervously.

"If it was that must mean that the one we have right now has been completed," said Annabeth thinking hard. "And you're still alive…"

Everyone looked hopeful. Did that mean they won the war?

**Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Seven, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it…Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen."**

**Hazel glared at him. "Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?"**

**Percy could almost see Octavian's mind working, calculating whether or not Percy would be useful. He held out his hand for Percy's backpack. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"**

"He wants your backpack?" Asked Nico confused.

**Percy didn't understand what he meant, but Octavian snatched the Bargain Mart panda pillow that was sticking out of the top of his pack. It was just a silly stuffed toy, but Percy had carried it a long way. He was kind of fond of it. **

"Awww, does little Percy miss his pillow pet?" teased Thalia.

Everyone laughed while Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

**Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.**

**"****Hey!" Percy protested.**

**Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face.**

**"****Good news!" he said. "Percy may join the legion. **

"Thank the gods," said Percy with relief.

"You are welcome," beamed Hermes and Apollo.

**We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."**

**Hazel's shoulders relaxed. "Uh…great. Come on, Percy."**

**"****Oh, and Hazel," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll remember—"**

"Shouldn't he be looking for Jason?" Asked an angry Thalia. He was her brother after all. He couldn't be dead. She wouldn't allow that.

**"****Jason isn't dead," Hazel snapped. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!"**

**"****Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you'll support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."**

"Why would anyone support him?" Asked Annabeth disgusted.

**Hazel clenched her fists. "Me. Support. You?"**

**"****Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar. Percy noticed seven lines on Octavian's arm—seven years of camp, Percy guessed. Octavian's mark was a harp, the symbol of Apollo.**

"Ugh, don't remind me," said Apollo.

**"****After all," Octavian told Hazel, "I might be able to help you. It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating…or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true."**

"He's blackmailing her!" Yelled Annabeth.

**Percy slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed his pen. This guy was blackmailing Hazel. That was obvious. One sign from Hazel, and Percy was ready to bust out Riptide and see how Octavian liked being at the other end of a blade.**

"Do it!" Yelled Thalia.

**Hazel took a deep breath. Her knuckles were white. "I'll think about it."**

**"****Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here."**

**"****Hazel stiffened. "My brother? Why?"**

**Octavian shrugged. "Why does your brother do anything? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just…ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. **

"I wonder who he is," said Nico.

**Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy."**

**Hazel stormed out of the pavilion, and Percy followed. He was sure he'd never been so glad to leave a temple in his life.**

**As Hazel marched down the hill, she cursed in Latin. Percy didn't understand all of it, but he got son of a gorgon, power-hungry snake, and a few choice suggestions about where Octavian could stick his knife.**

Everyone laughed.

"I like this girl," smiled Apollo.

**"****I hate that guy," she muttered in English. "If I had my way—"**

**"****He won't really get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked.**

**"****I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him."**

"He doesn't sound that scary," said Thalia.

**"****Afraid of that skinny little guy?"**

**"****Don't underestimate him. Reyna's not so bad by herself, but if Octavian shares her power…" Hazel shuddered. **

"That would be bad," agreed Annabeth.

**"****Let's go see my brother. He'll want to meet you."**

**Percy didn't argue. He wanted to meet this mysterious brother, maybe learn something about Hazel's background—who her dad was, what secret she was hiding. Percy couldn't believe she'd done anything to be guilty about. She seemed too nice. But Octavian had acted like he had some first-class dirt on her.**

**Hazel led Percy to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Standing in front was a teenage boy in black jeans and an aviator jacket."**

Nico frowned. That was the same thing he was wearing.

**"****Hey," Hazel called. "I've brought a friend."**

**The boy turned. Percy had another one of those weird flashes: like this was somebody he should know. **

"You know her brother?" Asked Annabeth.

"Apparently," answered Percy.

**The kid was almost as pale as Octavian, but with dark eyes and messy black hair. He didn't look anything like Hazel. He wore a silver skull ring, a chain for a belt, and a black T-shirt with skull designs. At his side hung a pure-black sword.**

Now everyone was looking at Nico suspiciously. That sounded exactly like him.

**For a microsecond when he saw Percy, the boy seemed shocked—panicked even, like he'd been caught in a searchlight.**

**"****This is Percy Jackson," Hazel said. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."**

"So she is my daughter," said Hades shocked. If she was who he thought… No she couldn't be… She was dead.

**The boy regained his composure and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."**

"What!" Screamed Annabeth in shock. Everyone looked at Nico in surprise but he looked just as shocked.

"I don't know," he said. "This happens in the future, remember? I have never been to that camp before and I didn't even know I had a sister." When he said the thing about a sister he sounded both sad and hopeful.

Everybody looked down thinking of Bianca di Angelo.

"Wait! I just have one question," said Percy, "are you just going to pretend that we don't know each other? I have lost my memory and you are not going to help?" He almost yelled the last part and he sounded really angry.

Nico held up his hand in surrender. "I don't know. This happens in _the future_!" He said.

Percy nodded but still looked angry.

"So," said Artemis breaking the awkward silence. "Who wants to read?"

"Me," said Percy. He needed something to distract himself.

"**Chapter 5: Hazel**," he read.


	6. Chapter five: Hazel

**I finally finished chapter 5 :)**

**I don't own anything written in bold, it is owned by Rick Riordan.**

**I would just like to say thanks for all the lovely reviews, they are a great inspiration.**

* * *

"**Chapter 5: Hazel**," began Percy and smiled.

"Yes! Finally someone else's point of view!" said Percy. Finally.

**HAZEL FELT LIKE SHE'D JUST INTRODUCED two nuclear bombs. Now she was waiting to see which one exploded first.**

**Until that morning, her brother Nico had been the most powerful demigod she knew. **

"Yes! I am the most powerful demigod!" cheered Nico.

"You wish," said Thalia and zapped him with some lightning.

"Hey!" Yelled Nico.

Percy, who knew Thalia and Nico were about to get into a fight, started reading again.

**The others at Camp Jupiter saw him as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns. **

"That's more like it," laughed Thalia while Nico grumbled about not being odd or harmless.

**Hazel knew better. She hadn't grown up with Nico, hadn't even known him very long. But she knew Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason.**

**Then she'd met Percy.**

**At first, when she saw him stumbling up the highway with the old lady in his arms, Hazel had thought he might be a god in disguise. **

At this Percy blushed. Did she really think he was a _god_?

**Even though he was beat up, dirty, and stooped with exhaustion, he'd had an aura of power. **

"She is right," said Annabeth proudly. "You probably are the most powerful demigod."

Everyone nodded (except Percy), even Thalia and Nico nodded, albeit a little reluctantly.

**He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind blown black hair.**

Now Percy was totally red in the face and Thalia, Nico and Grover laughed at him.

Meanwhile Annabeth was trying not to get jealous.

**She'd ordered Frank not to fire on him. She thought the gods might be testing them. She'd heard myths like that: a kid with an old lady begs for shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse—boom, they get turned into banana slugs.**

"Sounds like something the gods would do," muttered Percy quiet enough that the gods wouldn't hear it. Everyone that heard it agreed.

**Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk about the graecus.**

**A son of the sea god...**

**Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would save her. **

"Save her?" Asked Annabeth confused. "From what?"

But no one answered her because they were all as confused as her.

Except maybe Hades who knew what she was talking about but didn't say anything.

**But could Percy really take away her curse? **

"What curse?" Demanded Nico. He just found out he had a sister. And now he found out she was cursed. Why couldn't their lives just be normal?

**It seemed too much to hope for.**

**Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, and Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords, things could get ugly.**

Percy and Nico looked at each other and tried to imagine if they actually fought (and not just for fun) and shuddered. Hazel was right; things could get ugly.

**Nico didn't appear scary. **

"True," said Thalia and Nico stuck his tongue out at her.

**He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled black clothes. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.**

**Hazel remembered when she'd met him. The first time she'd seen him draw that black sword of his, she'd almost laughed. The way he called it "Stygian iron," all serious-like—he'd looked ridiculous. **

Thalia, Annabeth and Percy laughed.

"Such a nice sister I have," muttered Nico sarcastically.

**This scrawny white boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed they were related.**

**She had changed her mind about that quick enough.**

**Percy scowled. "I—I know you."**

**Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?"**

"So you are just going to pretend we don't know each other." Percy glared at Nico.

"I'm sure I had a good reason," said Nico a little scared. Percy could be really scary when he wanted to and he was _not_ good to have as an enemy.

**He looked at Hazel for explanation.**

**Hazel hesitated. Something about her brother's reaction wasn't right. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, Hazel had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. She was sure of it. Why was he pretending otherwise?**

"Yes, why?" Demanded Annabeth. Nico should've helped Percy. Get him back the Camp Half-Blood. Get him back to _her_.

**Hazel forced herself to speak. "Um…Percy's lost his memory." She told her brother what had happened since Percy had arrived at the gates.**

**"****So, Nico…" she continued carefully, "I thought…you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."**

**Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus. Hazel didn't understand why, but she got the message: Drop it.**

"You shouldn't be so mean to your sister," scolded Hestia. It was the first time she had said something in a while and everybody was a little surprised.

"I-I'm sorry, Lady Hestia," apologised Nico a little nervously.

**"****This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"**

**Percy nodded. "Who is Gaea, anyway?"**

"Seaweed Brain," sighed Annabeth. "You really should read a book. It could save your life."

"Why would I do that when I have you?" Asked Percy and kissed Annabeth, who blushed, on the cheek.

**Hazel's mouth went dry. Just hearing that name… It was all she could do to keep her knees from buckling. She remembered a woman's soft sleepy voice, a glowing cave, and feeling her lungs fill with black oil.**

"She has met Gaea?" Asked all the gods surprised.

**"****She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it might be listening. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children."**

"Are you telling me Mother Earth is evil?" asked Percy incredulously.

**"****Mother Earth…is evil?" Percy asked.**

"Don't repeat yourself, Perce," laughed Grover.

**"****Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos—um, I mean, Saturn—**

"Smooth, Nico, smooth," said Thalia sarcastically.

**to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them."**

"Yes, we did," boasted Zeus.

"Because we are awesome!" High fived Apollo and Hermes.

All the other gods and goddesses just sighed and rolled their eyes.

**"****That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised, like an old memory had partially surfaced. **

"It should sound familiar," said Annabeth. "We are fighting them right now."

**"****But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea."**

**Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband—Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least…the first time."**

"The first time?" Asked Athena.

**"****The first time?" Percy repeated.**

Athena scowled at sounding like the sea god's son and everybody laughed at her expression.

**Nico glanced at Hazel. He probably wasn't meaning to make her feel guilty, but she couldn't help it. If Percy knew the truth about her, and the horrible things she'd done…**

"What things?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne. Saturn disappeared—" **

Everyone in the room cheered and Percy and Annabeth kissed. They won the war!

**He hesitated, watching Percy's face. Hazel got the feeling her brother was nervous that more of Percy's memory might come back.**

**"****Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. **

"that's not possible," whispered Artemis.

**I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods…"**

"So now we have another war to worry about," exclaimed Percy frustrated. Seriously? The just found out they won this one and now they had another one?

**"****You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.**

**"****Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto…well, no offense, but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."**

**"****They let Hazel stay here," Percy noted.**

**"****That's different," Nico said.**

**"****Why?"**

**"****Percy," Hazel cut in, "look, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even ... even Gaea isn't the worst problem. **

"What? What could be worse than that?" Demanded Athena.

**The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry." She looked at Nico. She was getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for some reason Hazel trusted Percy. **

"You are really easy to trust," said Annabeth.

"Yeah, It's like there is this thing about you that just says 'you can trust me,'" agreed Nico.

Thalia and Grover agreed and Percy smiled at them.

**Maybe because he was also an outsider, maybe because he'd saved Frank at the river. He deserved to know what they were facing.**

**"****Nico and I," she said carefully, "we think that what's happening is…Death isn't—"**

**Before she could finish, a shout came from down the hill.**

"Come on!" Complained Apollo. Why did someone always interrupt when they were about to learn something?

**Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons."**

**As it did every time she saw Frank, Hazel's heart performed a little skip-beat tap-dance—**

Nico frowned a little. This was his sister and he didn't want her to get hurt because of love. He knew all about getting your heart broken.

"She's in love!" Squealed Aphrodite and everyone covered their ears.

**which really irritated her. Sure, he was a good friend—one of the only people at camp who didn't treat her as if she had a contagious disease. But she didn't like him in that way.**

"You keep telling yourself that," said Aphrodite. Finally something interesting.

**He was three years older than she was, and he wasn't exactly Prince Charming, with that strange combination of baby face and bulky wrestler's body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. The fact that everyone always tried to pair them up—the two biggest losers at camp! You guys are perfect for each other—just made Hazel more determined not to like him.**

**But her heart wasn't with the program. It went nuts whenever Frank was around. She hadn't felt like that since ... well, since Sammy.**

"Whose Sammy?" Asked Hermes confused.

**Stop it, she thought. You're here for one reason—and it isn't to get a new boyfriend.**

**Besides, Frank didn't know her secret. **

"What secret?" Demanded Annabeth frustrated.

**If he knew, he wouldn't be so nice to her.**

**He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico…"**

**"****Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was the only one at camp who wasn't uneasy around the children of Pluto.**

Nico smiled. It was nice to know someone wasn't scared of him or thought he was creepy.

**"****Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?"**

**"****Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda."**

"Awww... Poor little Percy," Teased Thalia and Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

**"****He…Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."**

**Hazel realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day gone so fast? "You're right," she said. "We'd better—"**

**"****Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon."**

**Uh-oh, Hazel thought. She tried not to look anxious.**

Nico frowned. Was his sister afraid to talk to him alone?

**"****That's—that's a good idea," she managed. "Go ahead, guys. We'll catch up."**

**"****Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling—"**

**"****Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."**

**"****You will?" Hazel blurted. The campers were going to love that—the son of Neptune and the son of Pluto arriving on the same day. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors.**

**"****Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in." He turned to Hazel, and she got the sense that the worst part of her day was yet to come. "My sister and I need to talk."**

"Way to make it sound all ominous," said Thalia.

**"****You know him, don't you," Hazel said."**

**They sat on the roof of Pluto's shrine, which was covered with bones and diamonds. As far as Hazel knew, the bones had always been there. The diamonds were her fault. **

"How could they be her fault?" Asked Annabeth suspiciously.

**If she sat anywhere too long, or just got anxious, they started popping up all around her like mushrooms after a rain. **

"Wow," said Thalia.

"Is that normal for a child of Hades/Pluto?" Asked Percy.

"I don't think so," answered Nico. "It has never happened to me."

Everyone looked at Hades who shook his head. "It is not," he said, his voice a little hoarse.

**Several million dollars' worth of stones glittered on the roof, but fortunately the other campers wouldn't touch them. They knew better than to steal from temples—especially Pluto's—and the fauns never came up here.**

**Hazel shuddered, remembering her close call with Don that afternoon. If she hadn't moved quickly and snatched that diamond off the road…She didn't want to think about it. She didn't need another death on her conscience.**

"Death?" Asked Annabeth. "Are the diamond cursed or something?"

**Nico swung his feet like a little kid. **

"I am not a little kid," grumbled Nico.

"Yes you are," teased Thalia.

**His Stygian iron sword lay by his side, next to Hazel's spatha. He gazed across the valley, where construction crews were working in the Field of Mars, building fortifications for tonight's games.**

"They are building a fort just for a _game_?" Asked Annabeth shocked.

**"****Percy Jackson." He said the name like an incantation. "Hazel, I have to be careful what I say. Important things are at work here. Some secrets need to stay secret. You of all people—you should understand that."**

"What kind of secrets does she have?" Asked Nico. He was worried for his new sister, even if he hadn't met her yet.

**Hazel's cheeks felt hot. "But he's not like…like me?"**

**"****No," Nico said. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I can't interfere. Percy has to find his own way at this camp."**

**"****Is he dangerous?" she asked.**

"Yes," said everyone in the room (except Percy). They had all seen him fight.

**Nico managed a dry smile. "Very. To his enemies. But he's not a threat to Camp Jupiter. You can trust him."**

"He's the most trustworthy person I know," said Grover.

"Thanks," smiled Percy.

**"****Like I trust you," Hazel said bitterly."**

**Nico twisted his skull ring. Around him, bones began to quiver as if they were trying to form a new skeleton. Whenever he got moody, Nico had that effect on the dead, kind of like Hazel's curse. Between them, they represented Pluto's two spheres of control: death and riches. **

**Sometimes Hazel thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal.**

"Really?" Asked Nico. It must be some serious curse if she thought that.

**"****Look, I know this is hard," Nico said. "But you have a second chance. You can make things right."**

**"****Nothing about this is right," Hazel said. "If they find out the truth about me—"**

**"****They won't," Nico promised. "They'll call a quest soon. They have to. You'll make me proud. Trust me, Bi—"**

Nico sucked in his breath. He had almost called her…

**He caught himself, but Hazel knew what he'd almost called her: Bianca. Nico's real sister—the one he'd grown up with. Nico might care about Hazel, but she'd never be Bianca. Hazel was the simply the next best thing Nico could manage—**

"No," whispered Nico. Even if he didn't know her yet he knew that was not the truth.

**a consolation prize from the Underworld.**

"From the underworld?" Asked Annabeth confused.

**"****I'm sorry," he said.**

**Hazel's mouth tasted like metal, as if gold nuggets were popping up under her tongue. "Then it's true about Death? Is Alcyoneus to blame?"**

**"****I think so," Nico said. "It's getting bad in the Underworld. Dad's going crazy trying to keep things under control. From what Percy said about the gorgons, things are getting worse up here, too. But look, that's why you're here. All that stuff in your past—you can make something good come out of it.**

**"****You belong at Camp Jupiter."**

**That sounded so ridiculous, Hazel almost laughed. She didn't belong in this place. She didn't even belong in this century.**

"Is she like me?" Asked Nico.

**She should have known better than to focus on the past, but she remembered the day when her old life had been shattered. The blackout hit her so suddenly, she didn't even have time to say, Uh-oh. She shifted back in time. Not a dream or a vision. The memory washed over her with such perfect clarity, she felt she was actually there.**

**Her most recent birthday. She'd just turned thirteen. But not last December—December 17, 1941, the last day she had lived in New Orleans.**

"So she is like me," said Nico.

"But she said she came from the underworld," said Annabeth confused. "Do you think she came back from the dead?"

"Let's continue reading and see if we can figure it out," suggested Percy. "Who would like to read next?"

"I would like to read," said Hestia softly.

"**Chapter 6: Hazel**," she began.


	7. Chapter six: Hazel

**A couple of chapters ago I asked if you wanted anyone to come and read with them and the most popular response was: 'Jason'. And even though I said I wasn't going to include anymore of the seven I am now seriously considering it. If he should come should he come alone? Should it be the Jason from their time so he can be all confused about them being greek demigods? Or should he be from the future? Write a review with what you think**

**Everything in bold is owned by Rick Riordan.**

**And on with the story :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 6: Hazel**," read Hestia.

**HAZEL WAS WALKING HOME ALONE from the riding stables. Despite the cold evening, she was buzzing with warmth. Sammy had just kissed her on the cheek.**

"Uhhh, so Sammy was her boyfriend!" said Aphrodite.

**The day had been full of ups and downs. Kids at school had teased her about her mother, calling her a witch and a lot of other names. **

"Her mom was a witch?" frowned Percy thinking of Circe and how she turned him into a guinea pig.

Annabeth, seeing him frown and knowing why, smirked. That had been _so_ funny.

**That had been going on for a long time, of course, but it was getting worse. Rumors were spreading about Hazel's curse. The school was called St. Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians, a name that hadn't changed in a hundred years. Just like its name, the place masked a whole lot of cruelty under a thin veneer of kindness.**

Nico frowned. Cruelty? They better treat his sister right.

**Hazel didn't understand how other black kids could be so mean. They should've known better, since they themselves had to put up with name-calling all the time. But they yelled at her and stole her lunch, always asking for those famous jewels: "Where's those cursed diamonds, girl? Gimme some or I'll hurt you!" They pushed her away at the water fountain, and threw rocks at her if she tried to approach them on the playground.**

"Poor girl," said Hestia sadly. People could be so mean sometimes.

**Despite how horrible they were, Hazel never gave them diamonds or gold. She didn't hate anyone that much. Besides, she had one friend—Sammy—and that was enough.**

"That is so cute!" Squealed Aphrodite.

Everyone just rolled their eyes at her.

**"****Sammy liked to joke that he was the perfect St. Agnes student. He was Mexican American, so he considered himself colored and Indian. "They should give me a double scholarship," he said.**

**He wasn't big or strong, but he had a crazy smile and he made Hazel laugh.**

**That afternoon he'd taken her to the stables **

Poseidon perked up at the mention of stables. He was, after all, the creator of horses.

**where he worked as a groom. It was a "whites only" riding club, of course, but it was closed on weekdays, and with the war on, there was talk that the club might have to shut down completely until the Japanese were whipped and the soldiers came back home. Sammy could usually sneak Hazel in to help take care of the horses. Once in a while they'd go riding.**

**Hazel loved horses. **

"I like this girl," decided Poseidon.

"You only like her because she likes horses," muttered Athena distastefully.

"So?" Asked Poseidon and Athena rolled her eyes.

**They seemed to be the only living things that weren't scared of her. **

Nico sighed. He knew that feeling all to well. Except horses hated him too.

**People hated her. Cats hissed. Dogs growled. Even the stupid hamster in Miss Finley's classroom squeaked in terror when she gave it a carrot. **

Hades frowned. It wasn't fair that all that happened to her just because she was _his_ child?

**But horses didn't mind. When she was in the saddle, she could ride so fast that there was no chance of gemstones cropping up in her wake. She almost felt free of her curse.**

**That afternoon, she'd taken out a tan roan stallion with a gorgeous black mane. She galloped into the fields so swiftly, she left Sammy behind. By the time he caught up, he and his horse were both winded.**

**"****What are you running from?" He laughed. "I'm not that ugly, am I?"**

**It was too cold for a picnic, but they had one anyway, sitting under a magnolia tree with the horses tethered to a split-rail fence. Sammy had brought her a cupcake with a birthday candle, which had gotten smashed on the ride but was still the sweetest thing Hazel had ever seen. They broke it in half and shared it.**

"Awww," cooed Aphrodite.

**Sammy talked about the war. He wished he were old enough to go. He asked Hazel if she would write him letters if he were a soldier going overseas.**

**"'****Course, dummy," she said.**

**He grinned. Then, as if moved by a sudden impulse, he lurched forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Hazel."**

**It wasn't much. Just one kiss, and not even on the lips. But Hazel felt like she was floating. She hardly remembered the ride back to the stables, or telling Sammy good-bye. He said, "See you tomorrow," like he always did. But she would never see him again."**

"Foreshadowing," said Annabeth.

**"****By the time she got back to the French Quarter, it was getting dark. As she approached home, her warm feeling faded, replaced by dread.**

**Hazel and her mother—Queen Marie, she liked to be called—**

"_Queen_ Marie?" Asked Percy.

**lived in an old apartment above a jazz club. Despite the beginning of the war, there was a festive mood in the air. New recruits would roam the streets, laughing and talking about fighting the Japanese. They'd get tattoos in the parlors or propose to their sweethearts right on the sidewalk. Some would go upstairs to Hazel's mother to have their fortunes read or to buy charms from Marie Levesque, the famous grisgris queen.**

"So, is she a sorceress or seer?" Asked Percy.

"Neither, I think," said Annabeth. "It's probably all just fake."

**"****Did you hear?" one would say. "Two bits for this good-luck charm. I took it to a guy I know, and he says it's a real silver nugget. Worth twenty dollars! That voodoo woman is crazy!"**

"She probably has a lot of it if her Hazel can just make it appear," said Thalia.

"Yeah, but Hazel also said it was cursed," reminded Annabeth her.

**For a while, that kind of talk brought Queen Marie a lot of business. Hazel's curse had started out slowly. At first it seemed like a blessing. The precious stones and gold only appeared once in a while, never in huge quantities. Queen Marie paid her bills. They ate steak for dinner once a week. Hazel even got a new dress. But then stories started spreading. The locals began to realize how many horrible things happened to people who bought those good-luck charms or got paid with Queen Marie's treasure. Charlie Gasceaux lost his arm in a harvester while wearing a gold bracelet. Mr. Henry at the general store dropped dead from a heart attack after Queen Marie settled her tab with a ruby.**

"So that's the curse." said Annabeth.

**Folks started whispering about Hazel—how she could find cursed jewels just by walking down the street. These days only out-of-towners came to visit her mother, and not so many of them, either. Hazel's mom had become short-tempered. She gave Hazel resentful looks.**

Thalia looked down thinking of her own mother.

**Hazel climbed the stairs as quietly as she could, in case her mother had a customer. In the club downstairs, the band was tuning their instruments. The bakery next door had started making beignets for tomorrow morning, filling the stairwell with the smell of melting butter.**

**When she got to the top, Hazel thought she heard two voices inside the apartment. But when she peeked into the parlor, her mother was sitting alone at the séance table, her eyes closed, as if in a trance.**

**Hazel had seen her that way many times, pretending to talk to spirits for her clients—but not ever when she was by herself. Queen Marie had always told Hazel her gris-gris was "bunk and hokum." **

"See, she is not a real sorceress," said Annabeth and Percy sighed in relief.

**She didn't really believe in charms or fortune telling or ghosts. She was just a performer, like a singer or an actress, doing a show for money.**

**But Hazel knew her mother did believe in some magic. Hazel's curse wasn't hokum. Queen Marie just didn't want to think it was her fault—that somehow she had made Hazel the way she was.**

**"****It was your blasted father," Queen Marie would grumble in her darker moods. **

Everyone looked at Hades but he was just looking down, sadly.

**"****Coming here in his fancy silver-and black suit. The one time I ****_actually_**** summon a spirit, and what do I get? Fulfills my wish and ruins my life. I should've been a ****_real_**** queen. It's ****_his_**** fault you turned out this way."**

Hades grumbled something about that he had warned her, but it didn't look like he wanted to talk about it so Hestia continued reading.

**She would never explain what she meant, and Hazel had learned not to ask about her father. It just made her mother angrier.**

**As Hazel watched, Queen Marie muttered something to herself. Her face was calm and relaxed. Hazel was struck by how beautiful she looked, without her scowl and the creases in her brow. She had a lush mane of gold-brown hair like Hazel's, and the same dark complexion, brown as a roasted coffee bean. She wasn't wearing the fancy saffron robes or gold bangles she wore to impress clients—just a simple white dress. Still, she had a regal air, sitting straight and dignified in her gilded chair as if she really were a queen.**

Hades gave a small sad smile at her description but didn't say anything.

**"****You'll be safe there," she murmured. "Far from the gods."**

"Far from the gods?" Asked Percy shocked. He didn't know there was a place outside the gods reach.

"Alaska," answered Athena a little uncomfortable.

**Hazel stifled a scream. The voice coming from her mother's mouth wasn't hers. It sounded like an older woman's. The tone was soft and soothing, but also commanding—like a hypnotist giving orders.**

_Gaea_ thought all the gods, but none of them vocalised. They were all hoping it wasn't true.

**Queen Marie tensed. She grimaced in her trance, then spoke in her normal voice: "It's too far. Too cold. Too dangerous. He told me not to."**

"If only she had listened," sighed Hades.

**The other voice responded: "What has he ever done for you? He gave you a poisoned child! But we can use her gift for good. We can strike back at the gods. You will be under my protection in the north, far from the gods' domain. I'll make my son your protector. You'll live like a queen at last."**

**Queen Marie winced. "But what about Hazel…"**

**Then her face contorted in a sneer. Both voices spoke in unison, as if they'd found something to agree on: "A poisoned child."**

**Hazel fled down the stairs, her pulse racing.**

**At the bottom, she ran into a man in a dark suit. He gripped her shoulders with strong, cold fingers.**

Everyone glanced at Hades.

**"****Easy, child," the man said.**

**Hazel noticed the silver skull ring on his finger,**

Nico looked down at his own skull ring and started twisting it nervously.

**then the strange fabric of his suit. In the shadows, the solid black wool seemed to shift and boil, forming images of faces in agony, as if lost souls were trying to escape from the folds of his clothes.**

**His tie was black with platinum stripes. His shirt was tombstone grey. His face—Hazel's heart nearly leaped out of her throat. His skin was so white it looked almost blue, like cold milk. He had a flap of greasy black hair. His smile was kind enough, but his eyes were fiery and angry, full of mad power. Hazel had seen that look in the newsreels at the movie theater. This man looked like that awful Adolf Hitler. He had no mustache, but otherwise he could've been Hitler's twin—or his father.**

Hades frowned, not really liking his description.

**Hazel tried to pull away. Even when the man let go, she couldn't seem to move. His eyes froze her in place.**

**"****Hazel Levesque," he said in a melancholy voice. "You've grown."**

**Hazel started to tremble. At the base of the stairs, the cement stoop cracked under the man's feet. A glittering stone popped up from the concrete like the earth had spit out a watermelon seed. The man looked at it, unsurprised. He bent down.**

**"****Don't!" Hazel cried. "It's cursed!"**

"Yes, it is," said Hades. "But not to me."

**He picked up the stone—a perfectly formed emerald. "Yes, it is. But not to me. So beautiful…worth more than this building, I imagine." He slipped the emerald in his pocket. "I'm sorry for your fate, child. I imagine you hate me."**

**Hazel didn't understand. The man sounded sad, as if he were personally responsible for her life. **

"That's because I were," whispered Hades.

**Then the truth hither: a spirit in silver and black, who'd fulfilled her mother's wishes and ruined her life."**

Hades flinched.

**Her eyes widened. "You? You're my…"**

**He cupped his hand under her chin. "I am Pluto. Life is never easy for my children, but you have a special burden. Now that you're thirteen, we must make provisions—"**

**She pushed his hand away.**

**"****You did this to me?" she demanded. "You cursed me and my mother? You left us alone?"**

**Her eyes stung with tears. This rich white man in a fine suit was her father? Now that she was thirteen, he showed up for the first time and said he was sorry?**

**"****You're evil!" she shouted. "You ruined our lives!"**

Again Hades flinched. She was right, of course. But that didn't make it any easier.

**Pluto's eyes narrowed. "What has your mother told you, Hazel? Has she never explained her wish? Or told you why you were born under a curse?"**

**Hazel was too angry to speak, but Pluto seemed to read the answers in her face.**

**"****No…" He sighed. "I suppose she wouldn't. Much easier to blame me."**

**"****What do you mean?"**

**Pluto sighed. "Poor child. You were born too soon. I cannot see your future clearly, but someday you will find your place. A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace. I fear, though, that is not for many years.…"**

**Hazel didn't follow any of that. Before she could respond, Pluto held out his hand. A sketchpad and a box of colored pencils appeared in his palm.**

**"****I understand you enjoy art and horseback riding," he said. "These are for your art. As for the horse…" His eyes gleamed. "That, you'll have to manage yourself. Now I must speak with your mother. Happy birthday, Hazel."**

Nobody knew what to say. They all just looked at Hades sympathetically even though they knew he didn't want it.

**He turned and headed up the stairs—just like that, as if he'd checked Hazel off his "to do" list and had already forgotten her. Happy birthday. Go draw a picture. See you in another thirteen years.**

**She was so stunned, so angry, so upside-down confused that she just stood paralyzed at the base of the steps. She wanted to throw down the colored pencils and stomp on them. She wanted to charge after Pluto and kick him. She wanted to run away, find Sammy, steal a horse, leave town and never come back. But she didn't do any of those things.**

**Above her, the apartment door opened, and Pluto stepped inside.**

**Hazel was still shivering from his cold touch, but she crept up the stairs to see what he would do. What would he say to Queen Marie? Who would speak back—Hazel's mother, or that awful voice?**

**When she reached the doorway, Hazel heard arguing. She peeked in. Her mother seemed back to normal—screaming and angry, throwing things around the parlor while Pluto tried to reason with her.**

**"****Marie, it's insanity," he said. "You'll be far beyond my power to protect you."**

**"****Protect me?" Queen Marie yelled. "When have you ever protected me?"**

**Pluto's dark suit shimmered, as if the souls trapped in the fabric were getting agitated.**

**"****You have no idea," he said. "I've kept you alive, you and the child. My enemies are everywhere among gods and men. Now with the war on, it will only get worse. **

The Big Three looked down thinking about the war between their children.

**You must stay where I can—"**

**"****The police think I'm a murderer!" Queen Marie shouted. "My clients want to hang me as a witch! And Hazel—her curse is getting worse. Your protection is killing us."**

**Pluto spread his hands in a pleading gesture. "Marie, please—"**

**"****No!" Queen Marie turned to the closet, pulled out a leather valise, and threw it on the table. "We're leaving," she announced. "You can keep your protection. We're going north."**

**"****Marie, it's a trap," Pluto warned. **

"Probably," agreed Athena.

**"****Whoever's whispering in your ear, whoever's turning you against me—"**

**"****You turned me against you!" She picked up a porcelain vase and threw it at him. It shattered on the floor, and precious stones spilled everywhere—emeralds, rubies, diamonds. Hazel's entire collection.**

**"****You won't survive," Pluto said. "If you go north, you'll both die. I can foresee that clearly."**

**"****Get out!" she said.**

**Hazel wished Pluto would stay and argue. Whatever her mother was talking about, Hazel didn't like it. But her father slashed his hand across the air and dissolved into shadows…like he really was a spirit.**

**Queen Marie closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Hazel was afraid the strange voice might possess her again. But when she spoke, she was her regular self.**

**"****Hazel," she snapped, "come out from behind that door."**

**Trembling, Hazel obeyed. She clutched the sketchpad and colored pencils to her chest.**

**Her mother studied her like she was a bitter disappointment. A poisoned child, the voices had said.**

"No child should have to live like that," said Hestia.

**"****Pack a bag," she ordered. "We're moving."**

**"****Wh-where?" Hazel asked.**

**"****Alaska," Queen Marie answered. "You're going to make yourself useful. We're going to start a new life."**

**The way her mother said that, it sounded as if they were going to create a "new life" for someone else—or something else."**

Now all the gods looked worried. They couldn't be talking about… No, that was not possible.

**"****What did Pluto mean?" Hazel asked. "Is he really my father? He said you made a wish—"**

**"****Go to your room!" her mother shouted. "Pack!"**

**Hazel fled, and suddenly she was ripped out of the past.**

**Nico was shaking her shoulders. "You did it again."**

"Again?" Asked Annabeth. "So it has happened before?"

**Hazel blinked. They were still sitting on the roof of Pluto's shrine. The sun was lower in the sky. More diamonds had surfaced around her, and her eyes stung from crying.**

**"****S-sorry," she murmured.**

**"****Don't be," Nico said. "Where were you?"**

**"****My mother's apartment. The day we moved."**

**Nico nodded. He understood her history better than most people could. He was also a kid from the 1940s. **

"Sometimes I forget how old you really are," laughed Thalia but Nico just looked down at his lap frowning. Stupid casino.

**He'd been born only a few years after Hazel, and had been locked away in a magic hotel for decades. But Hazel's past was much worse than Nico's. She'd caused so much damage and misery…**

Nico frowned. He wanted to know what happened to his sister.

**"****You have to work on controlling those memories," Nico warned. "If a flashback like that happens when you're in combat—"**

"Oh gods, that would be terrible," agreed Percy.

**"****I know," she said. "I'm trying."**

**Nico squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I think it's a side effect from…you know, your time in the Underworld. Hopefully it'll get easier."**

**Hazel wasn't so sure. After eight months, the blackouts seemed to be getting worse, as if her soul were attempting to live in two different time periods at once. No one had ever come back from the dead before—at least, not the way she had. Nico was trying to reassure her, but neither of them knew what would happen."**

**"****I can't go north again," Hazel said. "Nico, if I have to go back to where it happened—"**

**"****You'll be fine," he promised. "You'll have friends this time. Percy Jackson—he's got a role to play in this. You can sense that, can't you? He's a good person to have at your side."**

"Definitely," Nico agreed with his future self. "You do _not_ want him as your enemy.

**Hazel remembered what Pluto told her long ago: A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace.**

**Was Percy the one? Maybe, but Hazel sensed it wouldn't be so easy. She wasn't sure even Percy could survive what was waiting in the north.**

"You better survive, Seaweed Brain," threatened Annabeth. Percy gulped and nodded nervously.

**"****Where did he come from?" she asked. "Why do the ghosts call him the Greek?"**

**Before Nico could respond, horns blew across the river. The legionnaires were gathering for evening muster.**

**"****We'd better get down there," Nico said. "I have a feeling tonight's war games are going to be interesting."**

"Done," said Hestia.

"May I read?" asked Nico.

"Of course," said Hestia and handed the book to him.

"**Chapter 7: Hazel**," read Nico.


	8. Extra company

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry, it's just a filler, but I promise I will have the next real chapter up tomorrow.**

**I hope you like it :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 7: Ha**-," started Nico but was interrupted by a big bright light.

When the light died down four people stood in the middle of the room, two boys and two girls. They all looked totally confused.

"Where are we?" Asked one of the boys.

When he said that the three other people looked at him and one of the girls let out a surprised gasp.

"Jason?" She asked shocked.

He looked at her a little confused. "Yes, Hazel?" He asked.

"Jason!" She screamed happily and then ran to him and hugged him.

"Whoa, what is with you, Hazel?" Asked Jason. "You act like we haven't seen each other in months. I saw you just a couple of minutes ago."

The girl, Hazel, exchanged a shocked look with the last boy.

"Jason," she started gently. "You have been gone for eight months."

The last girl, who had been silent until now, asked confused: "What do you mean? He hasn't been gone."

Finally Zeus, tired of being ignored, stood up and boomed: "Who are you? And what are you doing on Olympus?"

The four kids looked at him in surprise. They hadn't even realised that there were other people in the room.

When they saw whom it was they all kneeled.

But before any of them could speak, a note appeared in Percy's lap. He cautiously took the note and read out loud:

_Dear gods, demigods and Grover_

_We have summoned these four people to read the book with you._

_Please explain to them what has happened._

_Everyone should introduce themselves again._

_The Fates_

_P.S. Still no maiming or killing._

That just made the four new people even more confused.

"Okay, I'll start," said Annabeth. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena."

"Athena?" Asked one of the girls, confused.

"Yes. What about it?" Demanded Annabeth, a little defended.

"Nothing," answered the girl. "Just surprising."

"Why do you call the gods by their greek names?" Asked the other girl, Hazel, curiously.

"Because we are Greek demigods," answered Nico. The girl looked at him in surprise before flinging herself at him.

"Nico!" She screamed hugging him.

"Err…" Nico said awkwardly. "Do I know you?"

The girl looked at him like he had just slapped her.

She was about to say something when another note fell down, this time in Annabeth's lap. She hurriedly read the note out loud:

_Dear gods, demigods and Grover_

_We would just like to add that these four demigods are from different times in the future._

_Jason and Reyna are from about a week before Jason's disappearance while Hazel and Frank are from the night before their quest. _

_The Fates _

"That explains it," said Hazel. "So, when are we?"

"For you it is about two years into the past and for the other two it is a little over a year in the past," Answered Annabeth.

They all nodded, still looking a little shocked.

"Let's move on," said Thalia. "I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis."

Jason looked at her in shock but didn't say anything.

"I'm Grover," said Grover. "Satyr, Lord of the Wild and Leader of the Council of Cloven Elders."

"I'm Percy," said Percy. "Son of Poseidon."

"Percy Jackson?" Asked the other girl. When he nodded she looked at him in anger, but she didn't say anything.

Both Hazel and the other boy were about to hug him when they remembered that he didn't know them yet so they just smiled at him.

"Nico," said Nico. "Son of Hades."

"So, you're greek?" Asked the other girl. She sounded a little angry, but mostly shocked.

"Yeah," he said awkwardly.

When no one said anything the last boy stepped forward and said: "I'm Frank, son of Mars."

Ares' form shimmered a little as he looked at his son.

"I'm Reyna, daughter of Bellona, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion," said the other girl, Reyna.

When Reyna said she was a daughter of Bellona Athena glared at her, but she didn't say anything.

"Hazel," said the girl who had hugged Nico. "Daughter of Pluto."

"So you're my half sister," said Nico and silently added _the one we have been reading about_.

She nodded.

"Jason," said the last newcomer. "Son of Jupiter, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

"Jason _Grace_?" Asked Thalia nervously.

He nodded, wondering how she knew his last name.

She took a deep breath and then said: "I'm your sister. Your full-blooded sister. Thalia Grace. Do you remember me?" The last bit was asked in a hopeful whisper.

He looked at her in shock before he slowly nodded. "I-Yeah, I think," he said.

Then Thalia hugged him and he hugged her back and they just stood there for a minute.

Everybody smiled at them, glad that they had been reunited, even Hera.

Finally Jason looked up at Zeus and asked: "The note said you were reading something. What is it?"

After they had explained what had happened in the book, the four newcomers looked at them in shock.

"So you are saying this is a book about _us_?" Asked Frank. He said the word 'us' like he couldn't believe anyone would write about him.

"Yep," said Percy.

"And I have been gone for eight months?" Asked Jason.

"Yes," said Annabeth.

"And you think I went to your camp while Percy went to mine in some form of exchange?" He continued.

"That sounds about right," said Nico.

Jason took a deep breath then said: "Okay, let us continue with the book."

Nico nodded, found the right chapter, and started reading again.

"**Chapter 7: Hazel**," he read.


	9. Chapter seven: Hazel

**I promised you I would have the next chapter up today and here it is.**

**Anything that is written in bold is owned by Rick Riordan.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 7: Hazel**," read Nico.

**ON THE WAY BACK, HAZEL TRIPPED OVER A GOLD BAR.**

**She should have known not to run so fast, but she was afraid of being late for muster. The Fifth Cohort had the nicest centurions in camp. **

Jason, Frank and Hazel nodded in agreement, while Reyna rolled her eyes.

**Still, even they would have to punish her if she was tardy. Roman punishments were harsh: scrubbing the streets with a toothbrush, cleaning the bull pens at the coliseum, getting sewn inside a sack full of angry weasels and dumped into the Little Tiber—**

All the Greek demigods looked at the romans in surprise.

"Wow," said Percy. "And I thought no dessert was a hard punishment."

**the options were not great.**

**The gold bar popped out of the ground just in time for her foot to hit it. Nico tried to catch her, but she took a spill and scraped her hands.**

**"****You okay?" Nico knelt next to her and reached for the bar of gold.**

"Don't!" Hazel warned even though it had already happened.

**"****Don't!" Hazel warned.**

"No need to repeat yourself," teased Frank, making Hazel blush.

**Nico froze. "Right. Sorry. It's just…jeez. That thing is huge." He pulled a flask of nectar from his aviator jacket and poured a little on Hazel's hands. Immediately the cuts started to heal. "Can you stand?"**

**He helped her up. They both stared at the gold. It was the size of a bread loaf, stamped with a serial number and the words u.s. treasury.**

**Nico shook his head. "How in Tartarus—?"**

**"****I don't know," Hazel said miserably. "It could've been buried there by robbers or dropped off a wagon a hundred years ago. Maybe it migrated from the nearest bank vault. Whatever's in the ground, anywhere close to me—it just pops up. **

Everyone looked at Hazel with sympathy but she just looked down in her lap.

**And the more valuable it is—"**

**"****The more dangerous it is." Nico frowned. "Should we cover it up? If the fauns find it…"**

"Yeah, that wouldn't be so good," frowned Jason.

**Hazel imagined a mushroom cloud billowing up from the road, char-broiled fauns tossed in every direction. It was too horrible to consider. "It should sink back underground after I leave, eventually, but just to be sure…"**

**She'd been practicing this trick, but never with something so heavy and dense. She pointed at the gold bar and tried to concentrate.**

**The gold levitated. She channelled her anger, which wasn't hard—she hated that gold, she hated her curse, she hated thinking about her past and all the ways she'd failed. Her fingers tingled. The gold bar glowed with heat.**

**Nico gulped. "Um, Hazel, are you sure…?"**

**She made a fist. The gold bent like putty. Hazel forced it to twist into a giant, lumpy ring. Then she flicked her hand toward the ground. Her million-dollar doughnut slammed into the earth. It sank so deep, nothing was left but a scar of fresh dirt.**

Everyone looked at Hazel with wide eyes.

"Wow," said Jason.

"You must be really powerful," said Annabeth.

Hazel shook her head. She didn't think she was nearly as powerful as anyone else in the room.

**Nico's eyes widened. "That was…terrifying."**

"Indeed," said Reyna.

**Hazel didn't think it was so impressive compared to the powers of a guy who could reanimate skeletons and bring people back from the dead, but it felt good to surprise him for a change.**

Nico smiled at his new sister. He was glad he could make her feel good.

**Inside the camp, horns blew again. The cohorts would be starting roll call, and Hazel had no desire to be sewn into a sack of weasels.**

**"****Hurry!" she told Nico, and they ran for the gates."**

**The first time Hazel had seen the legion assemble, she'd been so intimidated, she'd almost slunk back to the barracks to hide. Even after being at camp for nine months, she still found it an impressive sight.**

Jason and Reyna smiled proudly.

**The first four cohorts, each forty kids strong, stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the principia, since their barracks were tucked in the back corner of camp next to the stables and the latrines. Hazel had to run right down the middle of the legion to reach her place.**

**The campers were dressed for war. Their polished chain mail and greaves gleamed over purple T-shirts and jeans. Sword-and-skull designs decorated their helmets. Even their leather combat boots looked ferocious with their iron cleats, great for marching through mud or stomping on faces.**

"Do you always wear your amor?" Asked Annabeth curiously.

"Not always," answered Reyna. "We just like to be prepared."

"And it's a good workout," added Jason.

**In front of the legionnaires, like a line of giant dominoes, stood their red and gold shields, each the size of a refrigerator door. Every legionnaire carried a harpoon like spear called a pilum, a gladius, a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment. If you were out of shape when you came to the legion, you didn't stay that way for long. Just walking around in your armor was a full-body workout.**

"See?" Asked Jason.

Annabeth just nodded.

**Hazel and Nico jogged down the street as everyone was coming to attention, so their entrance was really obvious. **

Nico frowned. He hated being the center of attention.

**Their footsteps echoed on the stones. Hazel tried to avoid eye contact, but she caught Octavian at the head of the First Cohort smirking at her, looking smug in his plumed centurion's helmet with a dozen medals pinned on his chest.**

Everyone in the room made a sour face.

"Ugh, I hate that guy," said Jason.

**Hazel was still seething from his blackmail threats earlier. **

Frank glared at the book. When they got back to camp he was going to find Octavian. No one threatened Hazel on his watch.

Aphrodite, seeing his glare, had to suppress a squeal. Instead she smiled at him.

**Stupid augur and his gift of prophecy—of all the people at camp to discover her secrets, why did it have to be him? She was sure he would have told on her weeks ago, except that he knew her secrets were worth more to him as leverage. She wished she'd kept that bar of gold so she could hit him in the face with it.**

Everyone laughed.

"That would have been hilarious," agreed Thalia.

**She ran past Reyna, who was cantering back and forth on her pegasus Scipio—nicknamed Skippy because he was the color of peanut butter. **

Reyna smiled at the mention of her pegasus.

**The metal dogs Aurum and Argentum trotted at her side. Her purple officer's cape billowed behind her.**

**"****Hazel Levesque," she called, "so glad you could join us."**

**Hazel knew better than to respond. She was missing most of her equipment, but she hurried to her place in line next to Frank and stood at attention. Their lead centurion, a big seventeen-year-old guy named Dakota,**

All the Romans smiled at the mention of their friend.

**was just calling her name—the last one on the roll.**

**"****Present!" she squeaked.**

**Thank the gods. Technically, she wasn't late.**

**Nico joined Percy Jackson, who was standing off to one side with a couple of guards. Percy's hair was wet from the baths. **

"Wow! I don't think I have ever seen you wet, not even your hair," frowned Thalia.

"Me neither," agreed Nico.

"Why is it so surprising for you that his hair is wet?" Asked Jason, confused.

"Because I'm a son of Poseidon, one of my powers is that I can decide if I want to be wet or dry, even when I'm in water," explained Percy.

"Oh. Cool," said Jason.

**He'd put on fresh clothes, but he still looked uncomfortable. Hazel couldn't blame him. He was about to be introduced to two hundred heavily armed kids.**

**The Lares were the last ones to fall in. Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places. They had an annoying habit of standing halfway inside living people, so that the ranks looked like a blurry photograph, **

Everyone laughed at the annoyed looks on the Romans faces.

**but finally the centurions got them sorted out.**

**Octavian shouted, "Colors!"**

**The standard-bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skin capes and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. The job was supposed to be a big honor, but Jacob obviously hated it. Even though Reyna insisted on following tradition, every time the eagleless pole was raised, Hazel could feel embarrassment rippling through the legion.**

**"****Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.**

**"****Romans!" she announced. "You've probably heard about the incursion today. Two gorgons were swept into the river by this newcomer, Percy Jackson. Juno herself guided him here, and proclaimed him a son of Neptune."**

**The kids in the back rows craned their necks to see Percy. He raised his hand and said, "Hi."**

"Great speech, Percy," said Thalia sarcastically.

Percy did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out.

**"****He seeks to join the legion," Reyna continued. "What do the auguries say?"**

**"****I have read the entrails!" Octavian announced, as if he'd killed a lion with his bare hands rather than ripping up a stuffed panda pillow. "The auguries are favourable. He is qualified to serve!"**

**The campers gave a shout: "Ave!" Hail!**

**Frank was a little late with his "ave," so it came out as a high-pitched echo. **

Frank looked totally embarrassed while everyone else laughed.

**The other legionnaires snickered.**

**Reyna motioned the senior officers forward—one from each cohort. Octavian, as the most senior centurion, turned to Percy.**

**"****Recruit," he asked, "do you have credentials? Letters of reference?"**

"Letters of reference?" Asked Annabeth.

**Hazel remembered this from her own arrival. A lot of kids brought letters from older demigods in the outside world, adults who were veterans of the camp. Some recruits had rich and famous sponsors. Some were third- or fourth-generation campers. A good letter could get you a position in the better cohorts, sometimes even special jobs like legion messenger, which made you exempt from the grunt work like digging ditches or conjugating Latin verbs.**

**Percy shifted. "Letters? Um, no."**

**Octavian wrinkled his nose.**

"He carried Hera to camp!" exclaimed Annabeth. "What more could you want?"

**"****Unfair! Hazel wanted to shout. Percy had carried a goddess into camp. What better recommendation could you want?**

"Exactly," said Annabeth sharing a smile with Hazel. She was thankful that someone stood up for Percy. It was reassuring to know that he had such great friends to help him when she wasn't there.

**But Octavian's family had been sending kids to camp for over a century. He loved reminding recruits that they were less important than he was.**

**"****No letters," Octavian said regretfully. "Will any legionnaires stand for him?"**

**"****I will!" Frank stepped forward. "He saved my life!"**

Percy smiled at Frank in thanks and Frank smiled back even though he was totally embarrassed that he had said it.

**Immediately there were shouts of protest from the other cohorts. Reyna raised her hand for quiet and glared at Frank.**

**"****Frank Zhang," she said, "for the second time today, I remind you that you are on probatio. Your godly parent has not even claimed you yet. You're not eligible to stand for another camper until you've earned your first stripe."**

Reyna smiled a little apolitically at Frank who just nodded, totally red in the face.

**Frank looked like he might die of embarrassment.**

**Hazel couldn't leave him hanging. **

Frank looked at Hazel gratefully and she smiled back at him.

**She stepped out of line and said, "What Frank means is that Percy saved both our lives. I am a full member of the legion. I will stand for Percy Jackson."**

Percy smiled at both of them. He was glad that he would find such great friends.

**Frank glanced at her gratefully, but the other campers started to mutter. Hazel was barely eligible. She'd only gotten her stripe a few weeks ago, and the "act of valor" that earned it for her had been mostly an accident. Besides, she was a daughter of Pluto, and a member of the disgraced Fifth Cohort. She wasn't doing Percy much of a favor by giving him her support.**

"I still appreciate it," said Percy firmly.

Frank and Hazel smiled at him.

**Reyna wrinkled her nose, but she turned to Octavian. The augur smiled and shrugged, like the idea amused him.**

**Why not? Hazel thought. Putting Percy in the Fifth would make him less of a threat, and Octavian liked to keep all his enemies in one place.**

**"****Very well," Reyna announced. "Hazel Levesque, you may stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept him?"**

**The other cohorts started coughing, trying not to laugh. Hazel knew what they were thinking: ****_Another loser for the Fifth_****.**

"Is it really that bad to be in the fifth cohort?" Asked Annabeth.

"Unfortunately it is," answered Jason, frowning. He was in the fifth cohort, but it didn't look like it would get more popular in the next year.

**Frank pounded his shield against the ground. The other members of the Fifth followed his lead, though they didn't seem very excited. Their centurions, Dakota and Gwen, exchanged pained looks, like: Here we go again.**

**"****My cohort has spoken," Dakota said. "We accept the recruit."**

**Reyna looked at Percy with pity. "Congratulations, Percy Jackson. You stand on probatio. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. Senators Populusque Romani's!"**

**The rest of the legion echoed the cheer.**

**Reyna wheeled her pegasus away from Percy, like she was glad to be done with him. Skippy spread his beautiful wings. Hazel couldn't help feeling a pang of envy. She'd give anything for a horse like that, but it would never happen. Horses were for officers only, or barbarian cavalry, not for Roman legionnaires.**

**"****Centurions," Reyna said, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth will attack. Good fortune!"**

**A bigger cheer went up—for the war games and for dinner. The cohorts broke ranks and ran for the mess hall.**

**Hazel waved at Percy, who made his way through the crowd with Nico at his side. To Hazel's surprise, Nico was beaming at her.**

"Why is that a surprise?" Asked Nico frowning.

"Err… Well, you don't really smile that much," answered Hazel carefully. She didn't want to hurt him. "Most of the time you don't really show any emotion."

That just caused Nico to frown even more.

**"****Good job, Sis," he said. "That took guts, standing for him."**

**He had never called her Sis before. She wondered if that was what he had called Bianca.**

"It was," answered Nico when everyone looked at him.

**One of the guards had given Percy his probatio nameplate. Percy strung it on his leather necklace with the strange beads.**

**"****Thanks, Hazel," he said. "Um, what exactly does it mean—your standing for me?"**

**"****I guarantee your good behavior," Hazel explained. "I teach you the rules, answer your questions, make sure you don't disgrace the legion."**

**"****And…if I do something wrong?"**

**"****Then I get killed along with you," Hazel said. "Hungry? Let's eat."**

Everyone laughed.

"That was the end of the chapter," said Nico. "Who would like to read?"

"I would," said Reyna.

She took the book, turned the page and started reading.

"**Chapter 8: Hazel**," she read.


	10. Chapter eight: Hazel

**This is the last chapter before I am going on vacation tomorrow. I will be gone until August the 4th, so there won't be any updates for the next two or three weeks. But I promise I am not going to abandon this story.**

**I hope you like the chapter :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 8: Hazel**," Started Reyna.

**AT LEAST THE CAMP FOOD WAS GOOD.**

"It is," agreed Jason while Frank nodded.

**Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. If you got up too fast, you were likely to get beaned by beans or potted by a pot roast.**

**Hazel got shrimp gumbo—her favorite comfort food. It made her think about being a little girl in New Orleans, before her curse set in and her mom got so bitter. Percy got a cheeseburger and a strange-looking soda that was bright blue. **

Percy smiled while Annabeth groaned.

"You and your blue food," she sighed.

**Hazel didn't understand that, but Percy tried it and grinned.**

**This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why…but it does."**

Percy nodded in agreement with himself.

**Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible—an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared in a gust.**

Annabeth glared a little at the book in jealousy, but tried not to show it.

**The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.**

**As usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. Hazel's table was always the least crowded. Tonight it was she and Frank, as usual, with Percy and Nico and their centurion Dakota, who sat there, Hazel figured, because he felt obligated to welcome the new recruit.**

**Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight, so Hazel felt like the world was leaning whenever she looked at him. **

Everyone laughed at the description.

"It's true," snickered Frank.

**It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.**

"I am guessing he is one of yours?" Asked Athena.

The question was directed at Dionysius who, until now, had been reading a magazine and not really listening to the book.

"Huh? Oh… Err... Yeah," was his intelligent answer.

**"****So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."**

Some of the more immature people in the room laughed.

**"****Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know…about where I might have seen you before."**

**"****Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—"**

"You really don't want me to recognise you," said Percy, a little hurt.

"I'm sure I have a really good reason," said Nico and then added under his breath so no one heard it: "I better have a _really_ good reason."

**Dakota belched. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits.**

**You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."**

"I'm sorry, Nico," said Reyna, not really sure if she should be apologising or not.

"It's okay, I'm used to it," answered Nico.

Everyone frowned at that. He wasn't supposed to be _used_ to something like that.

**"****None taken." Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Dakota was really helpful, standing for Hazel."**

**Dakota blushed. "Yeah, well…She seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."**

**"****Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede—"**

**"****It was nothing," Hazel said.**

**"****Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved his hide. I've never seen anything like it."**

**Hazel bit her lip. She didn't like to talk about it, and she felt uncomfortable, the way Frank made her sound like a hero. **

"You are a hero," said Frank firmly and Hazel blushed.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement, making Hazel turn even redder.

**In truth, she'd been mostly afraid that the unicorns would hurt themselves in their panic. Their horns were precious metal—silver and gold—so she'd managed to turn them aside simply by concentrating, steering the animals by their horns and guiding them back to the stables.**

"That was a really smart plan," approved Athena.

"Thank you, Lady Athena," beamed Hazel.

**It had gotten her a full place in the legion, but it had also started rumors about her strange powers—rumors that reminded her of the bad old days.**

**Percy studied her. Those sea-green eyes made her unsettled.**

**"****Did you and Nico grow up together?" he asked.**

**"****No," Nico answered for her. "I found out that Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans."**

"In the 1940's," finished Hazel, making everyone laugh.

**That was true, of course, but not the whole truth. Nico let people think he'd stumbled upon her in modern New Orleans and brought her to camp. It was easier than telling the real story.**

**Hazel had tried to pass herself off as a modern kid. It wasn't easy. Thankfully, demigods didn't use a lot of technology at camp. Their powers tended to make electronic gadgets go haywire. But the first time she went on furlough to Berkeley, she had nearly had a stroke. Televisions, computers, iPods, the Internet…It made her glad to get back to the world of ghosts, unicorns, and gods. That seemed much less of a fantasy than the twenty-first century.**

Everyone looked at her in shock.

"What? It did," she defended herself.

**Nico was still talking about the children of Pluto. "There aren't many of us," he said, "so we have to stick together. When I found Hazel—"**

**"****You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer. Hazel wondered again when he and Nico had met, and what her brother was hiding.**

**"****One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there..."**

**To bring her back, Hazel thought, though Nico didn't say that.**

"You tried to bring Bianca back to life?" Asked Hades.

"Apparently," answered Nico.

"You know that, that is impossible," said Hades a little regretfully.

Hazel, though knowing that it was actually possible at the moment, didn't say anything.

**"****She was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse. "She used to be in Elysium—like, the Underworld paradise—but she chose to be reborn into a new life. **

Nico looked down, a tear falling down his cheek.

**Now I'll never see her again. **

Everyone looked at Nico in sympathy.

**I was just lucky to find Hazel…in New Orleans, I mean."**

**Dakota grunted. "Unless you believe the rumors. Not saying that I do."**

**"****Rumors?" Percy asked.**

**From across the room, Don the faun yelled, "Hazel!"**

**"****Hazel had never been so glad to see the faun. He wasn't allowed in camp, but of course he always managed to get in. He was working his way toward their table, grinning at everybody, sneaking food off plates, and pointing at campers: "Hey! Call me!" A flying pizza smacked him in the head, and he disappeared behind a couch. Then he popped up, still grinning, and made his way over.**

Everyone laughed.

**"****My favorite girl!" He smelled like a wet goat wrapped in old cheese. He leaned over their couches and checked out their food. "Say, new kid, you going to eat that?"**

**Percy frowned. "Aren't fauns vegetarian?"**

"Yes, they are," agreed Grover. He was glad that Percy seemed to remember just a little bit about him.

**"****Not the cheeseburger, man! The plate!" He sniffed Percy's hair. "Hey…what's that smell?"**

"He just said you smelled," laughed Thalia.

Percy just stuck his tongue out.

**"****Don!" Hazel said. "Don't be rude."**

**"****No, man, I just—"**

**Their house god Vitellius shimmered into existence, standing half embedded in Frank's couch. "Fauns in the dining hall! What are we coming to? Centurion Dakota, do your duty!"**

**"****I am," Dakota grumbled into his goblet. "I'm having dinner!"**

**Don was still sniffing around Percy. "Man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!"**

Percy and Grover smiled at each other.

**Percy leaned away from him. "A what?"**

**"****An empathy link! It's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but—"**

**"****I know what!" Nico stood suddenly. **

"You really don't want me to remember," muttered Percy, but this time Nico chose to ignore him. He didn't know what to say.

**"****Hazel, how about we give you and Frank time to get Percy oriented? Dakota and I can visit the praetor's table. Don and Vitellius, you come too. We can discuss strategies for the war games."**

**"****Strategies for losing?" Dakota muttered.**

"Such an optimistic boy," said Apollo sarcastically.

**"****Death Boy is right!" Vitellius said. "This legion fights worse than we did in Judea, and that was the first time we lost our eagle. Why, if I were in charge—"**

**"****Could I just eat the silverware first?" Don asked."**

**"****Let's go!" Nico stood and grabbed Don and Vitellius by the ears.**

**Nobody but Nico could actually touch the Lares. Vitellius spluttered with outrage as he was dragged off to the praetor's table.**

Nico smirked.

**"****Ow!" Don protested. "Man, watch the 'fro!"**

**"****Come on, Dakota!" Nico called over his shoulder.**

**The centurion got up reluctantly. He wiped his mouth—uselessly, since it was permanently stained red. "Back soon." He shook all over, like a dog trying to get dry. Then he staggered away, his goblet sloshing.**

**"****What was that about?" Percy asked. "And what's wrong with Dakota?"**

**Frank sighed. "He's okay. He's a son of Bacchus, the wine god. He's got a drinking problem."**

"Just like his dad," noted Hermes and all the other gods laughed.

Dionysius just glared at Hermes.

**Percy's eyes widened. "You let him drink wine?"**

**"****Gods, no!" Hazel said. "That would be a disaster. He's addicted to red Kool-Aid. Drinks it with three times the normal sugar, and he's already ADHD—you know, attention deficit/hyperactive. One of these days, his head is going to explode."**

**Percy looked over at the praetor's table. Most of the senior officers were in deep conversation with Reyna. Nico and his two captives, Don and Vitellius, stood on the periphery. Dakota was running back and forth along a line of stacked shields, banging his goblet on them like they were a xylophone.**

Everyone laughed at him.

**"****ADHD," Percy said. "You don't say."**

**Hazel tried not to laugh. "Well…most demigods are. Or dyslexic. Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you—you said you had trouble reading."**

**"****Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.**

**"****I don't know," Hazel admitted. "Maybe. Back in my day, they just called kids like us 'lazy.'"**

**Percy frowned. "Back in your day?"**

**Hazel cursed herself.**

**Luckily for her, Frank spoke up: "I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic. All I got is lactose intolerance."**

"Seriously?" Asked Thalia.

**Percy grinned. "Seriously?"**

"Oh no! I think like Percy!" Cried Thalia.

**Frank might've been the silliest demigod ever, but Hazel thought he was cute when he pouted. **

Aphrodite squealed while Hazel and Frank blushed.

**His shoulders slumped. "And I love ice cream, too.…"**

"That's tough," agreed Percy. "I can't imagine living without ice cream."

**Percy laughed. Hazel couldn't help joining in. It was good to sit at dinner and actually feel like she was among friends.**

**"****Okay, so tell me," Percy said, "why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? You guys are great."**

"Thank you," said Hazel and Frank.

Percy just smiled at them.

**The compliment made Hazel's toes tingle. "It's…complicated. Aside from being Pluto's kid, I want to ride horses."**

**"****That's why you use a cavalry sword?"**

**She nodded. "It's stupid, I guess. Wishful thinking. There's only one pegasus at camp—Reyna's. The unicorns are just kept for medicine, because the shavings off their horns cure poison and stuff. Anyway, Roman fighting is always done on foot. Cavalry…they kind of look down on that. So they look down on me."**

"There is nothing wrong with riding a horse," said Poseidon, Percy and Hazel nodded in agreement.

**"****Their loss," Percy said. "What about you, Frank?"**

**Archery," he muttered. "They don't like that either, unless you're a child of Apollo. Then you've got an excuse. I hope my dad is Apollo, but I don't know. **

"I _wish_ my dad had been Apollo," muttered Frank.

"Yes, because I am awesome!" Agreed Apollo.

Ares frowned. What was wrong with having him as a dad?

**I can't do poetry very well. **

"Yeah, well neither can Apollo, so that's okay," said Artemis.

"Hey!" Yelled Apollo. "My poetry is great."

"No, it's not!" Yelled everyone that had ever heard it.

Apollo pouted.

**And I'm not sure I want to be related to Octavian."**

"I don't blame you," said Jason.

**"****Can't blame you," Percy said. "But you're excellent with the bow—the way you pegged those gorgons? Forget what other people think."**

"Thanks," said Frank.

**Frank's face turned as red as Dakota's Kool-Aid. "Wish I could. They all think I should be a sword fighter because I'm big and bulky." He looked down at his body, like he couldn't quite believe it was his. "They say I'm too stocky for an archer. Maybe if my dad would ever claim me…"**

Ares almost had a look of regret on his face, but then he stopped himself.

**They ate in silence for a few minutes. A dad who wouldn't claim you…Hazel knew that feeling. She sensed Percy could relate, too.**

Hades and Poseidon looked down in shame.

**"****You asked about the Fifth," she said at last. "Why it's the worst cohort. That actually started way before us."**

**She pointed to the back wall, where the legion's standards were on display. "See the empty pole in the middle?"**

**"****The eagle," Percy said.**

**Hazel was stunned. "How'd you know?"**

**Percy shrugged. "Vitellius was talking about how the legion lost its eagle a long time ago—the first time, he said. He acted like it was a huge disgrace. I'm guessing that's what's missing. And from the way you and Reyna were talking earlier, I'm guessing your eagle got lost a second time, more recently, and it had something to do with the Fifth Cohort."**

Everyone looked at Percy in shock.

"You are smarter than people give you credit for," said Annabeth kissing his cheek.

"Thanks… I think," said Percy, unsure whether he had just been complimented or insulted.

**Hazel made a mental note not to underestimate Percy again. When he'd first arrived, she'd thought he was a little goofy**

"He is goofy," said Thalia.

**from the questions he'd asked—about the Feast of Tuna and all—but clearly he was smarter than he let on.**

**"****You're right," she said. "That's exactly what happened."**

**"****So what is this eagle, anyway? Why is it a big deal?"**

**Frank looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "It's the symbol of the whole camp—a big eagle made of gold. It's supposed to protect us in battle and make our enemies afraid. Each legion's eagle gave it all sorts of power, and ours came from Jupiter himself. Supposedly Julius Caesar nicknamed our legion 'Fulminata'—armed with lightning—because of what the eagle could do.**

**"****I don't like lightning," Percy said.**

"Me neither," said Annabeth and Grover. Since their first quest none of the three liked lightning very much.

**"****Yeah, well," Hazel said, "it didn't make us invincible. The Twelfth lost its eagle the first time way back in ancient days, during the Jewish Rebellion."**

**"****I think I saw a movie like that," Percy said.**

**Hazel shrugged. "Could be. There have been lots of books and movies about legions losing their eagles. Unfortunately it happened quite a few times. The eagle was so important…well, archaeologists have never recovered a single eagle from ancient Rome. Each legion guarded theirs to the last man, because it was charged with power from the gods. They'd rather hide it or melt it down than surrender it to an enemy.**

**The Twelfth was lucky the first time. We got our eagle back. But the second time…"**

**"****You guys were there?" Percy asked.**

**They both shook their heads.**

**"****I'm almost as new as you." Frank tapped his probatio plate. "Just got here last month. But everyone's heard the story. It's bad luck to even talk about this. There was this huge expedition to Alaska back in the eighties…"**

**"****That prophecy you noticed in the temple," Hazel continued, "the one about the seven demigods and the Doors of Death? Our senior praetor at the time was Michael Varus, from the Fifth Cohort. Back then the Fifth was the best in camp. He thought it would bring glory to the legion if he could figure out the prophecy and make it come true—save the world from storm and fire and all that. He talked to the augur, and the augur said the answer was in Alaska. But he warned Michael it wasn't time yet. The prophecy wasn't for him."**

"But he went anyway, didn't he?" asked Annabeth.

All the romans nodded.

**"****But he went anyway," Percy guessed. "What happened?"**

**Frank lowered his voice. "Long, gruesome story. Almost the entire Fifth Cohort was wiped out. Most of legion's Imperial gold weapons were lost, along with the eagle. The survivors went crazy or refused to talk about what had attacked them."**

**I know, Hazel thought solemnly. But she kept silent.**

"You know?" Asked everyone in the room, shocked.

"Yes," she answered. "But I am not going to tell. It's probably going to say it in the book."

**"****Since the eagle was lost," Frank continued, "the camp has been getting weaker. Quests are more dangerous. Monsters attack the borders more often. Morale is lower. The last month or so, things have been getting much worse, much faster."**

**"****And the Fifth Cohort took the blame," Percy guessed. "So now everyone thinks we're cursed."**

**Hazel realized her gumbo was cold. She sipped a spoonful, but the comfort food didn't taste very comforting. "We've been the outcasts of the legion since…well, since the Alaska disaster. Our reputation got better when Jason became praetor—"**

**"****The kid who's missing?" Percy asked.**

"I'm not a kid," whined Jason.

"Of course you are, little brother," teased Thalia, making Jason smile.

**"****Yeah," Frank said. "I never met him. Before my time. But I hear he was a good leader. **

"He was," said Hazel. "He is," she added, looking at Jason which made him smile.

**He practically grew up in the Fifth Cohort. He didn't care what people thought about us. He started to rebuild our reputation. Then he disappeared."**

**"****Which put us back at square one," Hazel said bitterly. "Made us look cursed all over again. I'm sorry, Percy. Now you know what you've gotten yourself into."**

**Percy sipped his blue soda and gazed thoughtfully across the dining hall. "I don't even know where I come from…but I've got a feeling this isn't the first time I've been an underdog."**

"It isn't," said Percy thinking of all the schools he had been to.

**He focused on Hazel and managed a smile. "Besides, joining the legion is better than being chased through the wilderness by monsters. I've got myself some new friends. Maybe together we can turn things around for the Fifth Cohort, huh?"**

**A horn blew at the end of the hall. The officers at the praetor's table got to their feet—even Dakota, his mouth vampire-red from Kool-Aid.**

**"****The games begin!" Reyna announced. **

Ares cheered.

**The campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls.**

**"****So we're the attacking team?" Percy asked over the noise. "Is that good?"**

**Hazel shrugged. "Good news: we get the elephant. Bad news—"**

**"****Let me guess," said Percy. "The Fifth Cohort always loses."**

**Frank slapped Percy on the shoulder. "I love this guy. Come on, new friend. Let's go chalk up my thirteenth defeat in a row!"**

"Done," said Reyna.

"I would like to read," said Hermes.

"You can read?" Asked Athena shocked.

Hermes just stuck his tongue out and took the book.

"**Chapter 9: Frank**," he read.


	11. Chapter nine: Frank

**Hey everybody! I'm back from vacation :D **

**I am going to be updating again, but not as often as before because I am starting school on monday. But I am going to finish this story. **

**I still don't own anything written in bold. **

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 9: Frank**," read Hermes.

"Ugh," groaned Frank. Why did it have to be _his_ point of view?

**AS HE MARCHED TO THE WAR GAMES, Frank replayed the day in his mind. He couldn't believe how close he'd come to death.**

"A normal day for a demigod," said Thalia and every demigod in the room nodded.

The gods looked at their kids, a little concerned. Surely it couldn't be that bad?

**That morning on sentry duty, before Percy showed up, Frank had almost told Hazel his secret. **

"Another secret?" Asked Annabeth. She hated not knowing things.

Everyone looked at Frank but he just ignored them.

**The two of them had been standing for hours in the chilly fog, watching the commuter traffic on Highway 24. Hazel had been complaining about the cold.**

**"****I'd give anything to be warm," she said, her teeth chattering. "I wish we had a fire." Even with her armor on, she looked great. Frank liked the way her cinnamon-toast–colored hair curled around the edges of her helmet, and the way her chin dimpled when she frowned. **

Hazel and Frank blushed and everyone snickered at them.

"Awww!" Cooed Aphrodite.

**She was tiny compared to Frank, which made him feel like a big clumsy ox. He wanted to put his arms around her to warm her up, but he'd never do that. She'd probably hit him, and he'd lose the only friend he had at camp.**

"You will always be my friend," Hazel told Frank, sternly. She couldn't believe he thought she would just leave him like that.

Frank smiled at her in thanks.

**I could make a really impressive fire, he thought. Of course, it would only burn for a few minutes, and then I'd die…**

Every head turned to Frank in shock.

Hera looked at Frank curiously; Only she and Ares knew about it.

Ares was also looking at Frank. He almost felt sorry for his son, but he stopped himself.

**It was scary that he even considered it. Hazel had that effect on him. Whenever she wanted something, he had the irrational urge to provide it. He wanted to be the old-fashioned knight riding to her rescue, which was stupid, as she was way more capable at everything than he was.**

"That is not true," said Hazel, blushing. He was _so_ sweet, but she didn't like how low his confidence was. "There are so many things you are much better at than me!"

"Can we just continue reading?" Asked Frank, knowing what she said wasn't true.

**He imagined what his grandmother would say: ****_Frank Zhang riding to the rescue? Ha! He'd fall off his horse and break his neck._**

"That's mean," said Annabeth frowning.

All the demigods looked at Frank in sympathy; they all knew what it was like not to have a supporting family.

**Hard to believe it had been only six weeks since he'd left his grandmother's house—six weeks since his mom's funeral.**

Hazel put her arm around Frank's shoulder.

Frank became a little red in the face, but he was glad for the support.

**Everything had happened since then: wolves arriving at his grandmother's door, the journey to Camp Jupiter, the weeks he'd spent in the Fifth Cohort trying not to be a complete failure. Through it all, he'd kept the half-burned piece of firewood wrapped in a cloth in his coat pocket.**

The gears started turning in Annabeth's head. She knew she had read something about that before, but she couldn't remember it.

**_Keep it close_****, his grandmother had warned. ****_As long as it is safe, you are safe._**

Hazel looked at Frank in concern.

**The problem was that it burned so easily. He remembered the trip south from Vancouver. When the temperature dropped below freezing near Mount Hood, Frank had brought out the piece of tinder and held it in his hands, imagining how nice it would be to have some fire. Immediately, the charred end blazed with a searing yellow flame. It lit up the night and warmed Frank to the bone, but he could feel his life slipping away, as if he were being consumed rather than the wood. **

"Scary," said Percy. He too was concerned about his new friend.

**He'd thrust the flame into a snowbank. For a horrible moment it kept burning. When it finally went out, Frank got his panic under control. He wrapped the piece of wood and put it back in his coat pocket, determined not to bring it out again. But he couldn't forget it.**

"That would be pretty hard to forget," commented Nico.

**It was as though someone had said, "Whatever you do, don't think about that stick bursting into flame!"**

**So of course, that's all he thought about.**

**On sentry duty with Hazel, he would try to take his mind off it. He loved spending time with her. He asked her about growing up in New Orleans, but she got edgy at his questions, so they made small talk instead. Just for fun, they tried to speak French to each other. Hazel had some Creole blood on her mother's side. Frank had taken French in school. Neither of them was very fluent, and Louisiana French was so different from Canadian French it was almost impossible to converse. When Frank asked Hazel how her beef was feeling today, and she replied that his shoe was green, they decided to give up.**

Everyone laughed at them.

**Then Percy Jackson had arrived.**

"You make it sound like it is such a big deal that I came," said Percy.

"That's because it is," Answered Frank and Hazel.

**Sure, Frank had seen kids fight monsters before. He'd fought plenty of them himself on his journey from Vancouver. But he'd never seen gorgons. He'd never seen a goddess in person. And the way Percy had controlled the Little Tiber—wow. Frank wished he had powers like that.**

"Me too," said every demigod in the room (except Percy).

Poseidon smirked at his brothers. Even Zeus' and Hades' kids thought his powers were cooler.

**He could still feel the gorgons' claws pressing into his arms and smell their snaky breath—like dead mice and poison. If not for Percy, those grotesque hags would have carried him away. He'd be a pile of bones in the back of a Bargain Mart by now.**

**After the incident at the river, Reyna had sent Frank to the armory, which had given him way too much time to think.**

**While he polished swords, he remembered Juno, warning them to unleash Death.**

**Unfortunately Frank had a pretty good idea of what the goddess meant. He had tried to hide his shock when Juno had appeared, but she looked exactly like his grandmother had described—right down to the goatskin cape.**

"Your grandmother described how Hera looked to you?" Asked Percy, confused.

"It is probably going to explain it in the book," answered Frank. "I don't even understand it."

**_She chose your path years ago_****, Grandmother had told him. ****_And it will not be easy._**

Now everyone was looking at Hera who was looking intently at the book.

**Frank glanced at his bow in the corner of the armory. He'd feel better if Apollo would claim him as a son. **

"I _wish_ I was his son," muttered Frank so low only Hazel heard him.

She squeezed his shoulder to show him that everything was going to be all right.

**Frank had been sure his godly parent would speak up on his sixteenth birthday, which had passed two weeks ago.**

**Sixteen was an important milestone for Romans. It had been Frank's first birthday at camp. But nothing had happened. **

The romans in the room looked at him in sympathy.

**Now Frank hoped he would be claimed on the Feast of Fortuna, though from what Juno had said, they'd be in a battle for their lives on that day.**

**His father had to be Apollo. Archery was the only thing Frank was good at. Years ago, his mother had told him that their family name, Zhang, meant "master of bows" in Chinese. That must have been a hint about his dad. **

**Frank put down his polishing rags. He looked at the ceiling. "Please, Apollo, if you're my dad, tell me. I want to be an archer like you."**

"It would have been cool if you were my son, but you don't have to be my kid to be good at archery," said Apollo. He liked the kid, even though he was Mars' son. And he _was_ really good at archery.

**"****No, you don't," a voice grumbled.**

**Frank jumped out of his seat. Vitellius, the Fifth Cohort's Lar, was shimmering behind him. His full name was Gaius Vitellius Reticulus, but the other cohorts called him Vitellius the Ridiculous.**

A few people in the room snickered.

**"****Hazel Levesque sent me to check on you," Vitellius said, hiking up his sword belt. **

"Thank you, Hazel," said Frank sarcastically.

"Your welcome," laughed Hazel.

**"****Good thing, too. Look at the state of this armor!"**

**Vitellius wasn't one to talk. His toga was baggy, his tunic barely fit over his belly, and his scabbard fell off his belt every three seconds, but Frank didn't bother pointing that out.**

**"****As for archers," the ghost said, "they're wimps! **

"No, they are not!" Said Artemis heatedly.

**Back in my day, archery was a job for barbarians. A good Roman should be in the fray, gutting his enemy with spear and sword like a civilized man! That's how we did it in the Punic Wars. **

"Didn't he say he was in Caesar's army?" Asked Annabeth confused.

**Roman up, boy!"**

**"****Frank sighed. "I thought you were in Caesar's army."**

**"****I was!"**

**"****Vitellius, Caesar was hundreds of years after the Punic Wars. You couldn't have been alive that long."**

**"****Questioning my honor?" Vitellius looked so mad, his purple aura glowed. He drew his ghostly gladius and yelled, "Take that!"**

**He ran the sword, which was about as deadly as a laser pointer, through Frank's chest a few times.**

**"****Ouch," Frank said, just to be nice. **

Everyone laughed at that.

**"****Vitellius looked satisfied and put his sword away. "Perhaps you'll think twice about doubting your elders next time! Now…it was your sixteenth birthday recently, wasn't it?"**

**Frank nodded. He wasn't sure how Vitellius knew this, since Frank hadn't told anyone except Hazel, but ghosts had ways of finding out secrets. Eavesdropping while invisible was probably one of them.**

"Probably," agreed Jason.

**"****So that's why you're such a grumpy gladiator," the Lar said. "Understandable. The sixteenth birthday is your day of manhood! Your godly parent should have claimed you, no doubt about it, even if with only a small omen. Perhaps he thought you were younger. You look younger, you know, with that pudgy baby face." "Thanks for reminding me," Frank muttered**.

"It's just not your day, is it?" Asked Thalia.

**"****Yes, I remember my sixteenth," Vitellius said happily. "Wonderful omen! A chicken in my underpants."**

"A chicken in his underpants?" Asked Nico, confused.

**"****Excuse me?"**

**Vitellius puffed up with pride. "That's right! I was at the river changing my clothes for my Liberalia. Rite of passage into manhood, you know. We did things properly back then. I'd taken off my childhood toga and was washing up to don the adult one. Suddenly, a pure-white chicken ran out of nowhere, dove into my loincloth, and ran off with it. I wasn't wearing it at the time."**

"Oh my gods," said Annabeth.

**"****That's good," Frank said. "And can I just say: Too much information?"**

"Way to much information," agreed Percy.

**"****Mm." Vitellius wasn't listening. "That was the sign I was descended from Aesculapius, the god of medicine. I took my cognomen, my third name, Reticulus, because it meant undergarment, to remind me of the blessed day when a chicken stole my loincloth."**

"So his name is undergarment?" Asked Jason in disbelief.

**"****So…your name means Mr. Underwear?"**

Everyone laughed at the similarities between what Jason and Frank said.

**"****Praise the gods! I became a surgeon in the legion, and the rest is history." He spread his arms generously. "Don't give up, boy. Maybe your father is running late. Most omens are not as dramatic as a chicken, of course. I knew a fellow once who got a dung beetle—"**

**"****Thanks, Vitellius," Frank said. "But I have to finish polishing this armor—"**

**"****And the gorgon's blood?"**

"How did he know?" Asked Thalia.

**Frank froze. He hadn't told anyone about that. As far as he knew, only Percy had seen him pocket the vials at the river, and they hadn't had a chance to talk about it.**

**"****Come now," Vitellius chided. "I'm a healer. I know the legends about gorgon's blood. Show me the vials."**

**Reluctantly, Frank brought out the two ceramic flasks he'd retrieved from the Little Tiber. Spoils of war were often left behind when a monster dissolved—sometimes a tooth, or a weapon, or even the monster's entire head. Frank had known what the two vials were immediately. By tradition they belonged to Percy, who had killed the gorgons, but Frank couldn't help thinking, What if I could use them?**

"I'm sorry," Frank told Percy.

"It's okay. I understand," said Percy, smiling to show that he really meant it.

**"****Yes." Vitellius studied the vials approvingly. "Blood taken from the right side of a gorgon's body can cure any disease, even bring the dead back to life. The goddess Minerva once gave a vial of it to my divine ancestor, Aesculapius. But blood taken from the left side of a gorgon—instantly fatal. So, which is which?"**

**Frank looked down at the vials. "I don't know. They're identical."**

"That's not good. Now you can't use them," said Athena.

**"****Ha! But you're hoping the right vial could solve your problem with the burned stick, eh? Maybe break your curse?"**

"Does he know everything?" Asked Thalia.

**Frank was so stunned, he couldn't talk.**

**"****Oh, don't worry, boy." The ghost chuckled. "I won't tell anyone. I'm a Lar, a protector of the cohort! I wouldn't do anything to endanger you."**

**"****You stabbed me through the chest with your sword."**

**"****Trust me, boy! I have sympathy for you, carrying the curse of that Argonaut."**

"The Argonaut… I've read about them," said Annabeth.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Asked Percy.

"I-I can't remember," answered Annabeth frustrated.

Athena, who had had a suspicion about Frank's secret for some time, was now sure she knew. But she wouldn't spoil it for the others.

Instead she looked at the boy in sympathy.

**"****The ... what?"**

**Vitellius waved away the question. "Don't be modest. You've got ancient roots. Greek as well as Roman. **

"You're greek too?" Asked Hazel, surprised.

"I don't know," Frank said miserably.

**It's no wonder Juno—" He tilted his head, as if listening to a voice from above. His face went slack. His entire aura flickered green.**

"'It's no wonder Juno' what? What was he going to say?" Asked Annabeth.

But nobody knew the answer.

**"****But I've said enough! At any rate, I'll let you work out who gets the gorgon's blood. I suppose that newcomer Percy could use it too, with his memory problem."**

"Would it work?" Asked Percy eagerly.

"I suppose it would," answered Athena.

**Frank wondered what Vitellius had been about to say and what had made him so scared, but he got the feeling that for once Vitellius was going to keep his mouth shut.**

**He looked down at the two vials. He hadn't even thought of Percy's needing them. He felt guilty that he'd been intending to use the blood for himself. **

"I understand why you would want to use them. It sounds like you have it a lot worse than me," said Percy.

"But I should still give them to you. You won them," answered Frank.

**"****Yeah. Of course. He should have it."**

**"****Ah, but if you want my advice…" Vitellius looked up nervously again. "You should both wait on that gorgon blood. If my sources are right, you're going to need it on your quest."**

"You are going on a quest?" Asked Annabeth curiously.

Frank nodded.

**"****Quest?"**

**The doors of the armory flew open.**

**Reyna stormed in with her metal greyhounds. Vitellius vanished. He might have liked chickens, but he did not like the praetor's dogs.**

**"****Frank." Reyna looked troubled. "That's enough with the armor. Go find Hazel. Get Percy Jackson down here. He's been up there too long. I don't want Octavian…" She hesitated. "Just get Percy down here."**

**So Frank had run all the way to Temple Hill.**

**Walking back, Percy had asked tons of questions about Hazel's brother, Nico, but Frank didn't know that much.**

**"****He's okay," Frank said. "He's not like Hazel—"**

**"****How do you mean?" Percy asked.**

**"****Oh, um…" Frank coughed. He'd meant that Hazel was better looking **

Everybody laughed.

"Hey!" Yelled Nico.

"Sorry," said Frank, embarrassed.

**and nicer, but he decided not to say that. "Nico is kind of mysterious. He makes everybody else nervous, being the son of Pluto, and all."**

**"****But not you?"**

**Frank shrugged. "Pluto's cool. It's not his fault he runs the Underworld. He just got bad luck when the gods were dividing up the world, you know? **

"Thank you," Hades nodded at Frank.

Hazel and Nico smiled at him.

**Jupiter got the sky, Neptune got the sea, and Pluto got the shaft."**

**"****Death doesn't scare you?"**

"It shouldn't," said Hades.

**Frank almost wanted to laugh. ****_Not at all! Got a match?_**

**Instead he said, "Back in the old times, like the Greek times, when Pluto was called Hades, he was more of a death god. When he became Roman, he got more…I don't know, respectable. He became the god of wealth, too. Everything under the earth belongs to him. So I don't think of him as being real scary."**

"So that's why Nico is emo and Hazel isn't," teased Thalia.

"I'm not emo!" whined Nico while everyone else laughed.

**"****Percy scratched his head. "How does a god ****_become_**** Roman? If he's Greek, wouldn't he stay Greek?"**

**Frank walked a few steps, thinking about that. Vitellius would've given Percy an hour-long lecture on the subject, probably with a PowerPoint presentation, **

"Sounds like Annabeth," said Percy.

Annabeth just huffed.

**but Frank took his best shot. "The way Romans saw it, they adopted the Greek stuff and perfected it."**

"They did not perfect it at all!" Yelled Athena.

The roman demigods looked a little scared.

**Percy made a sour face. "Perfected it? Like there was something wrong with it?"**

Athena nodded at Percy's words. She was so worked up she didn't even realise she agreed with something _Poseidon's_ son had said.

**Frank remembered what Vitellius had said: You've got ancient roots. Greek as well as Roman. His grandmother had said something similar.**

**"****I don't know," he admitted. "Rome was more successful than Greece. They made this huge empire. The gods became a bigger deal in Roman times—more powerful and widely known. That's why they're still around today. So many civilizations base themselves on Rome. The gods changed to Roman because that's where the center of power was. Jupiter was…well, more responsible as a Roman god than he had been when he was Zeus. Mars became a lot more important and disciplined."**

Ares smirked at the other gods.

**"****And Juno became a hippie bag lady," Percy noted. **

Hera glared at Percy, but he just stared right back at her.

The romans looked at Percy in surprise. How could he treat a god like that and _not_ be dead?

**"****So you're saying the old Greek gods—they just changed permanently to Roman? There's nothing left of the Greek?"**

"Yeah, there's nothing left of the Greek," agreed Thalia sarcastically.

Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

**"****Uh…" Frank looked around to make sure there were no campers or Lares nearby, but the main gates were still a hundred yards away. "That's a sensitive topic. Some people say Greek influence is still around, like it's still a part of the gods' personalities. I've heard stories of demigods occasionally leaving Camp Jupiter. They reject Roman training and try to follow the older Greek style—like being solo heroes instead of working as a team the way the legion does. And back in the ancient days, when Rome fell, the eastern half of the empire survived—the Greek half."**

"It did?" Asked Nico.

Athena nodded.

**Percy stared at him. "I didn't know that."**

"That's not surprising," teased Thalia.

**"****It was called Byzantium." Frank liked saying that word. It sounded cool. **

"Byzantium," repeated Hermes and Apollo.

"He's right," said Apollo, Hermes nodded in agreement. "It is a cool word."

**"****The eastern empire lasted another thousand years, but it was always more Greek than Roman. For those of us who follow the Roman way, it's kind of a sore subject. That's why, whatever country we settle in, Camp Jupiter is always in the west—the Roman part of the territory. The east is considered bad luck."**

"And Camp Half-Blood is in New York, the eastern part of The United States," said Annabeth.

The romans looked at her in surprise.

**"****Huh." Percy frowned.**

**Frank couldn't blame him for feeling confused. The Greek/Roman stuff gave him a headache, too.**

**They reached the gates.**

**"****I'll take you to the baths to get you cleaned up," Frank said. "But first…about those vials I found at the river."**

**"****Gorgon's blood," Percy said. "One vial heals. One is deadly poison."**

**Frank's eyes widened. "You know about that? Listen, I wasn't going to keep them. I just—"**

**"****I know why you did it, Frank."**

"You do?" Asked Annabeth.

**"****You do?"**

**"****Yeah." Percy smiled. "If I'd come into camp carrying a vial of poison, that would've looked bad. You were trying to protect me."**

"That's so you, Percy," said Thalia. "Always thinking the best of people."

Everyone else in the room nodded and Percy smiled at them, a little red in the face.

**"****Oh…right." Frank wiped the sweat off his palms. "But if we could figure out which vial was which, it might heal your memory."**

**Percy's smile faded. He gazed across the hills. "Maybe…I guess. But you should hang on to those vials for now. There's a battle coming. We may need them to save lives."**

"You are _so_ selfless," said Annabeth and kissed Percy's cheek.

**Frank stared at him, a little bit in awe. Percy had a chance to get his memory back, and he was willing to wait in case someone else needed the vial more? Romans were supposed to be unselfish and help their comrades, but Frank wasn't sure anyone else at camp would have made that choice.**

"No, I don't think they would," said Reyna.

**"****So you don't remember anything?" Frank asked. "Family, friends?"**

**Percy fingered the clay beads around his neck. "Only glimpses. Murky stuff. A girlfriend…I thought she'd be at camp." He looked at Frank carefully, as if making a decision. "Her name was Annabeth. You don't know her, do you?"**

"I'm sorry I'm not there," said Annabeth sadly.

Percy smiled at her. "It's okay."

**Frank shook his head. "I know everybody at camp, but no Annabeth. What about your family? Is your mom mortal?"**

**"****I guess so…she's probably worried out of her mind. Does your mom get to see you much?"**

**Frank stopped at the bathhouse entrance. He grabbed some towels from the supply shed. "She died."**

**Percy knit his brow. "How?"**

**Usually Frank would lie. He'd say an accident and shut off the conversation. Otherwise his emotions got out of control. He couldn't cry at Camp Jupiter. He couldn't show weakness. But with Percy, Frank found it easier to talk.**

"I think everybody feels like that," said Nico.

**"****She died in the war," he said. "Afghanistan."**

**"****She was in the military?"**

**"****Canadian. Yeah."**

**"****Canada? I didn't know—"**

**"****Most Americans don't." Frank sighed. "But yeah, Canada has troops there. My mom was a captain. She was one of the first women to die in combat. She saved some soldiers who were pinned down by enemy fire. She…she didn't make it. The funeral was right before I came down here."**

**Percy nodded. He didn't ask for more details, which Frank appreciated. He didn't say he was sorry, or make any of the well-meaning comments Frank always hated: Oh, you poor guy. That must be so hard on you. You have my deepest condolences.**

**It was like Percy had faced death before, like he knew about grief. **

All the Greeks nodded, thinking about the battle of the labyrinth that happened only a week ago.

**What mattered was listening. You didn't need to say you were sorry. The only thing that helped was moving on—moving forward.**

**"****How about you show me the baths now?" Percy suggested. "I'm filthy."**

**Frank managed a smile. "Yeah. You kind of are."**

**As they walked into the steam room, Frank thought of his grandmother, his mom, and his cursed childhood, thanks to Juno and her piece of firewood. He almost wished he could forget his past, the way Percy had.**

"Done," said Hermes.

"Can I read?" Asked Jason.

Hermes nodded and handed the book to him.

"**Chapter 10: Frank**," started Jason.


	12. Chapter ten: Frank

**I am so sorry for the late update. I just started a new school and I have been very busy with work, so I didn't have any time to write before now.**

**I don't own anything written in bold, Rick Riordan owns it.**

**So here's the next chapter.**

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

"**Chapter 10: Frank**," read Jason.

**FRANK DIDN'T REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT the funeral itself.**

**But he remembered the hours leading up to it—his grand mother coming out into the backyard to find him shooting arrows at her porcelain collection.**

**His grandmother's house was a rambling grey stone mansion on twelve acres in North Vancouver. Her backyard ran straight into Lynn Canyon Park.**

**The morning was cold and drizzly, but Frank didn't feel the chill. He wore a black wool suit and a black overcoat that had once belonged to his grandfather. Frank had been startled and upset to find that they fit him fine. The clothes smelled like wet mothballs and jasmine. The fabric was itchy but warm. With his bow and quiver, he probably looked like a very dangerous butler.**

Everybody laughed.

"Wow! Scary," snickered Nico sarcastically.

**He'd loaded some of his grandmother's porcelain in a wagon and toted it into the yard, where he set up targets on old fence posts at the edge of the property. He'd been shooting for so long, his fingers were starting to lose their feeling. With every arrow, he imagined he was striking down his problems.**

Hazel gave Frank's hand a little squeeze to show him that she was there for him.

**Snipers in Afghanistan. Smash. A teapot exploded with an arrow through the middle.**

**The sacrifice medal, a silver disk on a red-and-black ribbon, given for death in the line of duty, presented to Frank as if it were something important, something that made everything all right. Thwack. A teacup spun into the woods.**

**The officer who came to tell him: "Your mother is a hero.**

**Captain Emily Zhang died trying to save her comrades."**

"She was a hero," whispered Frank.

Ares looked down, a little sad.

**Crack. A blue-and-white plate split into pieces.**

**His grandmother's chastisement: ****_Men do not cry. Especially Zhang men. You will endure, Fai._**

"It is okay to cry, Frank," said Hazel. "It's natural."

Frank smiled softly at her.

**No one called him Fai except his grandmother.**

**_What sort of name is Frank_****? She would scold. ****_That is not a Chinese name_****.**

**_I'm not Chinese_****, Frank thought, but he didn't dare say that. His mother had told him years ago: ****_There is no arguing with Grandmother. It'll only make you suffer worse. _****She'd been right. And now Frank had no one except his grandmother.**

**Thud. A fourth arrow hit the fence post and stuck there, quivering.**

**"****Fai," said his grandmother.**

**Frank turned.**

**She was clutching a shoebox-sized mahogany chest that Frank had never seen before. With her high-collared black dress and severe bun of grey hair, she looked like a schoolteacher from the 1800s.**

"She sounds lovely," said Apollo sarcastically.

**She surveyed the carnage: her porcelain in the wagon, the shards of her favorite tea sets scattered over the lawn, Frank's arrows sticking out of the ground, the trees, the fence posts, and one in the head of a smiling garden gnome.**

**Frank thought she would yell, or hit him with the box. He'd never done anything this bad before. He'd never felt so angry. **

"Again: It's natural. Your mother just died," said Hazel.

"I know," answered Frank.

**Grandmother's face was full of bitterness and disapproval. She looked nothing like Frank's mom. He wondered how his mother had turned out to be so nice—always laughing, always gentle. Frank couldn't imagine his mom growing up with Grandmother any more than he could imagine her on the battlefield—though the two situations probably weren't that different.**

Everyone laughed.

**He waited for Grandmother to explode. Maybe he'd be grounded and wouldn't have to go to the funeral. **

"You didn't want to go to your own mothers funeral?" asked Hermes, confused.

Frank shook his head. "I couldn't do it," he whispered.

**He wanted to hurt her for being so mean all the time, for letting his mother go off to war, for scolding him to get over it. All she cared about was her stupid collection.**

**"****Stop this ridiculous behavior," Grandmother said. She didn't sound very irritated. "It is beneath you."**

**To Frank's astonishment, she kicked aside one of her favorite teacups.**

**"****The car will be here soon," she said. "We must talk."**

**Frank was dumbfounded. He looked more closely at the mahogany box. For a horrible moment, he wondered if it contained his mother's ashes, but that was impossible. Grandmother had told him there would be a military burial. Then why did Grandmother hold the box so gingerly, as if its contents grieved her?**

"What is it?" Asked Annabeth.

"You'll see," answered Frank.

**"****Come inside," she said. Without waiting to see if he would follow, she turned and marched toward the house.**

**In the parlor, Frank sat on a velvet sofa, surrounded by vintage family photos, porcelain vases that had been too large for his wagon, and red Chinese calligraphy banners. Frank didn't know what the calligraphy said. He'd never had much interest in learning. He didn't know most of the people in the photographs, either.**

**Whenever Grandmother started lecturing him about his ancestors—how they'd come over from China and prospered in the import/export business, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest Chinese families in Vancouver—well, it was boring. **

"It is very important to know about your ancestors," scolded Athena.

"I'm sorry," said Frank, a little scared of the goddess.

**Frank was fourth-generation Canadian. He didn't care about China and all these musty antiques. The only Chinese characters he could recognize were his family name: Zhang. Master of bows. That was cool.**

**Grandmother sat next to him, her posture stiff, her hands folded over the box.**

**"****Your mother wanted you to have this," she said with reluctance. "She kept it since you were a baby. When she went away to the war, she entrusted it to me. But now she is gone. And soon you will be going, too."**

**Frank's stomach fluttered. "Going? Where?"**

**"****I am old," Grandmother said, as if that were a surprising announcement. **

A few people in the room snickered.

**"****I have my own appointment with Death soon enough. I cannot teach you the skills you will need, and I cannot keep this burden. If something were to happen to it, I would never forgive myself. You would die."**

"She's very forward, isn't she?" Said Jason.

Frank nodded.

**Frank wasn't sure he'd heard her right. It sounded like she had said his life depended on that box. **

"It sounds really weird when you put it like that," laughed Thalia.

**He wondered why he'd never seen it before. She must have kept it locked in the attic—the one room Frank was forbidden to explore. She'd always said she kept her most valuable treasures up there.**

**She handed the box to him. He opened the lid with trembling fingers. Inside, cushioned in velvet lining, was a terrifying, life-altering, incredibly important…piece of wood.**

Everybody laughed.

**It looked like driftwood—hard and smooth, sculpted into a wavy shape. It was about the size of a TV remote control. The tip was charred. Frank touched the burned end. It still felt warm. The ashes left a black smudge on his finger.**

**"****It's a stick," he said. He couldn't figure out why Grandmother was acting so tense and serious about it.**

**Her eyes glittered. "Fai, do you know of prophecies? Do you know of the gods?"**

**The questions made him uncomfortable. He thought about Grandmother's silly gold statues of Chinese immortals, her superstitions about putting furniture in certain places and avoiding unlucky numbers. Prophecies made him think of fortune cookies, which weren't even Chinese—not really—but the bullies at school teased him about stupid stuff like that: Confucius say …all that garbage. Frank had never even been to China. He wanted nothing to do with it. But of course, Grandmother didn't want to hear that.**

**"****A little, Grandmother," he said. "Not much."**

**"****Most would have scoffed at your mother's tale," she said, "But I did not. I know of prophecies and gods. Greek, Roman, Chinese—they intertwine in our family. I did not question what she told me about your father."**

**"****Wait ... what?"**

**"****Your father was a god," she said plainly.**

"Wow! She just told you like that?" Asked Percy, shocked. "And you believed her?"

"Not really," frowned Frank.

**If Grandmother had had a sense of humor, Frank would have thought she was kidding. But Grandmother never teased. Was she going senile?**

**"****Stop gaping at me!" she snapped. "My mind is not addled. Haven't you ever wondered why your father never came back?"**

"Yeah, because every father who doesn't visit their kid must be a god. That makes so much sense," said Annabeth sarcastically.

**"****He was…" Frank faltered. Losing his mother was painful enough. He didn't want to think about his father, too. "He was in the army, like Mom. He went missing in action. In Iraq."**

**"****Bah. He was a god. He fell in love with your mother because she was a natural warrior. She was like me—strong, brave, good, beautiful."**

"She is not very modest, is she?" Asked Reyna.

A few people jumped, she was so quieted they had forgotten she was there.

Reyna frowned at them, confused.

**Strong and brave, Frank could believe. Picturing Grandmother as good or beautiful was more difficult.**

A few people laughed.

**He still suspected she might be losing her marbles, but he asked, "What kind of god?"**

**"****Roman," she said. "Beyond that, I don't know. Your mother wouldn't say, or perhaps she didn't know herself. It is no surprise a god would fall in love with her, given our family. He must have known she was of ancient blood."**

**"****Wait…we're Chinese. Why would Roman gods want to date Chinese Canadians?"**

**Grandmother's nostrils flared. "If you bothered to learn the family history, Fai, you might know this. China and Rome are not so different, nor as separate as you might believe. Our family is from Gansu Province, a town once called Li-Jien. And before that…as I said, ancient blood. The blood of princes and heroes."**

**Frank just stared at her.**

**She sighed in exasperation. "My words are wasted on this young ox! **

Everyone were a little shocked that she would call Frank that, and looked at him sympathy.

**You will learn the truth when you go to camp. Perhaps your father will claim you. But for now, I must explain the firewood."**

**She pointed at the big stone fireplace. "Shortly after you were born, a visitor appeared at our hearth. Your mother and I sat here on the couch, just where you and I are sitting. You were a tiny thing, swaddled in a blue blanket, and she cradled you in her arms."**

**It sounded like a sweet memory, but Grandmother told it in a bitter tone, as if she knew, even then, that Frank would turn into a big lumbering oaf. **

Hazel frowned. Frank had really low confidence. She had to do something about that.

**"****A woman appeared at the fire," she continued. "She was a white woman—a gwai poh—dressed in blue silk, with a strange cloak like the skin of a goat."**

"Juno," realised Jason.

Everyone looked at Hera.

"Keep reading," she snapped at Jason who hurried on.

**"****A goat," Frank said numbly.**

**Grandmother scowled. "Yes, clean your ears, Fai Zhang! I'm too old to tell every story twice! The woman with the goatskin was a goddess. I can always tell these things. She smiled at the baby—at you—and she told your mother, in perfect Mandarin, no less: 'He will close the circle. He will return your family to its roots and bring you great honor.'"**

**Grandmother snorted. "I do not argue with goddesses, but perhaps this one did not see the future clearly. **

Hera scowled. "I knew what I was talking about," she hissed at the book.

**Whatever the case, she said, 'He will go to camp and restore your reputation there. He will free Thanatos from his icy chains—'"**

**"****Wait, who?"**

**"****Thanatos," Grandmother said impatiently. "The Greek name for Death. Now may I continue without interruptions? The goddess said, 'the blood of Pylos is strong in this child from his mother's side. He will have the Zhang family gift, but he will also have the powers of his father.'"**

"What is 'the Zhang family gift'?" Asked Annabeth curiously.

"I wish I knew," muttered Frank.

**Suddenly Frank's family history didn't seem so boring. He desperately wanted to ask what it all meant—powers, gifts, blood of Pylos. What was this camp, and who was his father? But he didn't want to interrupt Grandmother again. He wanted her to keep talking.**

**"****No power comes without a price, Fai," she said. "Before the goddess disappeared, she pointed at the fire and said, 'He will be the strongest of your clan, and the greatest. But the Fates have decreed he will also be the most vulnerable. His life will burn bright and short. As soon as that piece of tinder is consumed—that stick at the edge of the fire—your son is destined to die.'"**

**Frank could hardly breathe. He looked at the box in his lap, and the smudge of ash on his finger. The story sounded ridiculous, but suddenly the piece of driftwood seemed more sinister, colder and heavier. "This…this—"**

**"****Yes, my thick-headed ox," Grandmother said. "That is the very stick. The goddess disappeared, and I snatched the wood from the fire immediately. We have kept it ever since."**

**"****If it burns up, I die?"**

**"****It is not so strange," Grandmother said. "Roman, Chinese—the destinies of men can often be predicted, and sometimes guarded against, at least for a time. The firewood is in your possession now. Keep it close. As long as it is safe, you are safe."**

**Frank shook his head. He wanted to protest that this was just a stupid legend. **

"Everything in our lives are just stupid legends," said Percy bitterly.

**Maybe Grandmother was trying to scare him as some sort of revenge for breaking her porcelain.**

"I wish," said Frank. "That would have been much more simple."

**"****But her eyes were defiant. She seemed to be challenging Frank: ****_If you do not believe it, burn it._**

**Frank closed the box. "If it's so dangerous, why not seal the wood in something that won't burn, like plastic or steel? Why not put it in a safe deposit box?"**

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," said Jason with a frown.

**"****What would happen," Grandmother wondered, "if we coated the stick in another substance. Would you, too, suffocate? **

"Would I?" Asked Frank, looking up at Athena.

"I-I don't know," said Athena with a frown.

Every god and goddess in the room gasped.

"I never thought the day would come where Athena admits she doesn't know something," smiled Poseidon.

Athena glared at him.

**I do not know. Your mother would not take the risk. She couldn't bear to part with it, for fear something would go wrong. Banks can be robbed. Buildings can burn down. Strange things conspire when one tries to cheat fate. Your mother thought the stick was only safe in her possession, until she went to war. Then she gave it to me."**

**Grandmother exhaled sourly. "Emily was foolish, going to war, though I suppose I always knew it was her destiny. She hoped to meet your father again."**

**"****She thought…she thought he'd be in Afghanistan?"**

"Well… If you were trying to find me, I guess going to a place where there is war is a good place to start," said Ares thoughtfully.

**Grandmother spread her hands, as if this was beyond her understanding. "She went. She died bravely. She thought the family gift would protect her. No doubt that's how she saved those soldiers. **

**But the gift has never kept our family safe. It did not help my father, or his father. It did not help me. And now you have become a man. You must follow the path."**

**"****But…what path? What's our gift—archery?"**

**"****You and your archery! Foolish boy. Soon you will find out. Tonight, after the funeral, you must go south. Your mother said if she did not come back from combat, Lupa would send messengers. They will escort you to a place where the children of the gods can be trained for their destiny."**

**Frank felt as if he were being shot with arrows, his heart splitting into porcelain shards. He didn't understand most of what Grandmother said, but one thing was clear: she was kicking him out.**

**"****You'd just let me go?" he asked. "Your last family?"**

**Grandmother's mouth quivered. Her eyes looked moist. Frank was shocked to realize she was near tears. She'd lost her husband years ago, then her daughter, and now she was about to send away her only grandson. But she rose from the couch and stood tall, her posture as stiff and correct as ever.**

**"****When you arrive at camp," she instructed, "you must speak to the praetor in private. Tell her your great-grandfather was Shen Lun. It has been many years since the San Francisco incident. Hopefully they will not kill you for what he did, but you might want to beg forgiveness for his actions."**

"What did your great-grandfather do?" Asked Thalia.

Frank just shook his head.

**"****This is sounding better and better," Frank mumbled.**

**"****The goddess said you would bring our family full circle." Grandmother's voice had no trace of sympathy. "She chose your path years ago, and it will not be easy. But now it is time for the funeral. We have obligations. Come. The car will be waiting."**

"Wow, great topic change," said Nico sarcastically.

**The ceremony was a blur: solemn faces, the patter of rain on the graveside awning, the crack of rifles from the honor guard, the casket sinking into the earth.**

**That night, the wolves came. They howled on the front porch. Frank came out to meet them. He took his travel pack, his warmest clothes, his bow and his quiver. His mother's sacrifice medal was tucked in his pack. The charred stick was wrapped carefully in three layers of cloth in his coat pocket, next to his heart.**

Frank put his hand up to said pocket and felt the stick trough it.

Hazel saw it and looked at him with sympathy.

**His journey south began—to the Wolf House in Sonoma, and eventually to Camp Jupiter, where he spoke to Reyna privately as Grandmother had instructed. He begged forgiveness for the great-grandfather he knew nothing about. Reyna let him join the legion. She never did tell him what his great-grandfather had done, but she obviously knew. Frank could tell it was bad.**

Jason and Reyna nodded. It was bad.

**"****I judge people by their own merits," Reyna had told him. **

Frank gave Reyna a small smile in thanks and she nodded at him.

**"****But do not mention the name Shen Lun to anyone else. It must remain our secret, or you'll be treated badly."**

**Unfortunately, Frank didn't have many merits. His first month at camp was spent knocking over rows of weapons, breaking chariots, and tripping entire cohorts as they marched. His favorite job was caring for Hannibal the elephant, but he'd managed to mess that up, too—giving Hannibal indigestion by feeding him peanuts. Who knew elephants could be peanut-intolerant? **

Everybody laughed as Frank blushed.

**Frank figured Reyna was regretting her decision to let him join.**

**Every day, he woke up wondering if the stick would somehow catch fire and burn, and he would cease to exist.**

"How do you ever sleep?" Wondered Percy.

Frank just shrugged.

**All of this ran through Frank's head as he walked with Hazel and Percy to the war games. He thought about the stick wrapped inside his coat pocket, and what it meant that Juno had appeared at camp. Was he about to die? He hoped not. He hadn't brought his family any honor yet—that was for sure. Maybe Apollo would claim him today and explain his powers and gifts.**

"Sorry, kid," said Apollo apologetically.

**Once they got out of camp, the Fifth Cohort formed two lines behind their centurions, Dakota and Gwen. They marched north, skirting the edge of the city, and headed to the Field of Mars—the largest, flattest part of the valley. The grass was cropped short by all the unicorns, bulls, and homeless fauns that grazed here. The earth was pitted with explosion craters and scarred with trenches from past games. At the north end of the field stood their target. The engineers had built a stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and no doubt many other nasty surprises for the defenders to use.**

**"****They did a good job today," Hazel noted. "That's bad for us."**

"Hold on," said Annabeth. "They built that _today_?"

**"****Wait," Percy said. "You're telling me that fortress was built today?"**

"You think like Percy, Annabeth," snickered Thalia.

"Oh no!" Cried Annabeth.

"Hey!" Yelled Percy.

**Hazel grinned. "Legionnaires are trained to build. If we had to, we could break down the entire camp and rebuild it somewhere else. Take maybe three or four days, but we could do it."**

**"****Let's not," Percy said. "So you attack a different fort every night?"**

**"****Not every night," Frank said. "We have different training exercises. Sometimes death ball—um, which is like paint-ball, except with…you know, poison and acid and fire balls. Sometimes we do chariots and gladiator competitions, sometimes war games."**

**Hazel pointed at the fort. "Somewhere inside, the First and Second Cohorts are keeping their banners. Our job is to get inside and capture them without getting slaughtered. We do that, we win."**

"So it is kind of like capture-the-flag," said Percy. "I like it."

**Percy's eyes lit up. "Like capture-the-flag. I think I like capture-the-flag."**

"You don't change at all, Percy," laughed Nico.

**Frank laughed. "Yeah, well…it's harder than it sounds. We have to get past those scorpions and water cannons on the walls, fight through the inside of the fortress, find the banners, and defeat the guards, all while protecting our own banners and troops from capture. And our cohort is in competition with the other two attacking cohorts. We sort of work together, but not really. The cohort that captures the banners gets all the glory."**

**Percy stumbled, trying to keep time with the left-right marching rhythm. Frank sympathized. He'd spent his first two weeks falling down.**

Percy and Frank smiled at each other.

**"****So why are we practicing this, anyway?" Percy asked. "Do you guys spend a lot of time laying siege to fortified cities?"**

**"****Teamwork," Hazel said. "Quick thinking. Tactics. Battle skills. You'd be surprised what you can learn in the war games."**

**"****Like who will stab you in the back," Frank said**

**"****Especially that," Hazel agreed.**

**They marched to the center of the Field of Mars and formed ranks. The Third and Fourth Cohorts assembled as far as possible from the Fifth. The centurions for the attacking side gathered for a conference. In the sky above them, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to play referee.**

**Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her—prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary. The only person not participating in the game was Nico di Angelo, "Pluto's ambassador," who had climbed an observation tower about a hundred yards from the fort and would be watching with binoculars.**

"You are not even going to join them?" Asked Percy, frowning.

"Apparently not," answered Nico.

"Why not?" Asked Percy.

"I don't know. Ask my future self!" Snapped Nico.

**Frank propped his pilum against his shield and checked Percy's armor. Every strap was correct. Every piece of armor was properly adjusted.**

"Of course," said Annabeth. "He has done it so many time before."

**"****You did it right," he said in amazement. "Percy, you must've done war games before."**

"Yes," said Percy.

**"****I don't know. Maybe."**

**The only thing that wasn't regulation was Percy's glowing bronze sword—not Imperial gold, and not a gladius. The blade was leaf-shaped, and the writing on the hilt was Greek.**

**Looking at it made Frank uneasy. Percy frowned. "We can use real weapons, right?"**

**"****Yeah," Frank agreed. "For sure. I've just never seen a sword like that."**

"None of us had," agreed Hazel.

**"****What if I hurt somebody?"**

** "****We heal them," Frank said. "Or try to. The legion medics are pretty good with ambrosia and nectar, and unicorn draught."**

**"****No one dies," Hazel said. "Well, not usually. And if they do—"**

**Frank imitated the voice of Vitellius: "They're wimps! Back in my day, we died all the time, and we liked it!"**

Everyone laughed.

**Hazel laughed. "Just stay with us, Percy. Chances are we'll get the worst duty and get eliminated early. They'll throw us at the walls first to soften up the defenses. Then the Third and Fourth Cohorts will march in and get the honors, if they can even breach the fort."**

**Horns blew. Dakota and Gwen walked back from the officers' conference, looking grim.**

**"****All right, here's the plan!" Dakota took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his travel flask. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."**

"Wow! How did you know?" Asked Thalia in amazement.

"They do it every time," shrugged Hazel.

**The whole cohort groaned.**

**"****I know, I know," Gwen said. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!"**

**Leave it to Gwen to be the optimist. Everybody liked her because she took care of her people and tried to keep their spirits up. She could even control Dakota during his hyperactive bug-juice fits. Still, the campers grumbled and complained. Nobody believed in luck for the Fifth.**

**"****First line with Dakota," Gwen said. "Lock shields and advance in turtle formation to the main gates. Try to stay in one piece. Draw their fire. Second line—" Gwen turned to Frank's row without much enthusiasm. "You seventeen, from Bobby over, take charge of the elephant and the scaling ladders. Try a flanking attack on the western wall. Maybe we can spread the defenders too thin. Frank, Hazel, Percy…well, just do whatever.**

"'Just do whatever'?" Asked Annabeth incredulous.

"Yeah," sighed Hazel.

**Show Percy the ropes. Try to keep him alive." She turned back to the whole cohort. "If anybody gets over the wall first, I'll make sure you get the Mural Crown. Victory for the Fifth!"**

**The cohort cheered half-heartedly and broke ranks.**

"You really don't think you can win," observed Athena.

Hazel and Frank didn't say anything, thinking about how they won that game.

**Percy frowned. "'Do whatever?'"**

**"****Yeah," Hazel sighed. "Big vote of confidence."**

**"****What's the Mural Crown?" he asked.**

**"****Military medal," Frank said. He'd been forced to memorize all the possible awards. "Big honor for the first soldier to breach an enemy fort. You'll notice nobody in the Fifth is wearing one. Usually we don't even get into the fort because we're burning or drowning or…"**

**He faltered, and looked at Percy. "Water cannons."**

**"****What?" Percy asked.**

**"****The cannons on the walls," Frank said, "they draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system—heck, I don't know how they work, but they're under a lot of pressure. If you could control them, like you controlled the river—"**

"That is a really good idea," said Athena approvingly.

Frank blushed. "Thank you," he said.

**"****Frank!" Hazel beamed. "That's brilliant!"**

**Percy didn't look so sure. "I don't know how I did that at the river. I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away."**

"Of course you can," said Annabeth. "You have done things that are much harder."

Thalia, Nico and Grover all agreed.

Percy smiled at them.

**"****We'll get you closer." Frank pointed to the eastern wall of the fort, where the Fifth Cohort wouldn't be attacking. "That's where the defense will be weakest. They'll never take three kids seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us."**

**"****Sneak up how?" Percy asked.**

**Frank turned to Hazel. "Can you do that thing again?"**

**She punched him in the chest. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody!"**

**Immediately Frank felt terrible. He'd gotten so caught up in the idea...**

"Sorry, Hazel," said Frank earnestly.

"It's okay," she smiled at him.

**Hazel muttered under her breath. "Never mind. It's fine. Percy, he's talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I'm pretty good at finding them and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to."**

**"****Like you did with the gorgons," Percy said, "to slow them down."**

**Frank nodded approvingly. "I told you Pluto was cool. **

"Yes, I am cool," said Hades, looking at his to brothers. Poseidon and Zeus snorted.

**He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors—"**

**"****And it was our secret," she grumbled.**

**Frank felt himself blushing. "Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close—"**

**"****And if I can knock out the water cannons…" Percy nodded, like he was warming to the idea. "What do we do then?"**

**Frank checked his quiver. He always stocked up on special arrows. He'd never gotten to use them before, but maybe tonight was the night. Maybe he could finally do something good enough to get Apollo's attention.**

**"****The rest is up to me," he said. "Let's go."**

"Done," said Jason.

"May I read?" Asked Grover.

Jason threw the book to him.

"**Chapter 11: Frank**," read Grover.


	13. Chapter eleven: Frank

**Hey guys :D**

**I am sorry I am so bad at updating right now, but I am just so busy. **

**But I finally wrote a chapter and I don't think it will be so long before the next one is up.**

**I still don't own anything written in bold, it is all Rick Riordan's. **

**I hope you like it :)**

* * *

"**Chapter 11: Frank**," started Grover.

**FRANK HAD NEVER FELT SO SURE of anything, which made him nervous. Nothing he planned ever went right. He always managed to break, ruin, burn, sit on, or knock over something important. **

"That's not true," said Hazel.

"Yes, it is," sighed Frank.

Hazel frowned and then swore to herself that she was going to help him become more confident.

**Yet he knew this strategy would work.**

Both Annabeth and Athena were curious. They loved strategies.

**Hazel found them a tunnel with no problem. In fact, Frank had a sneaking suspicion she didn't just find tunnels. It was as though tunnels manufactured themselves to suit her needs. **

Everybody looked at Hazel.

"They do," she said, a little embarrassed.

**Passages that had been filled in years ago suddenly unfilled, changing direction to lead Hazel where she wanted to go. They crept along by the light of Percy's glowing sword, Riptide. Above, they heard the sounds of battle—kids shouting, Hannibal the elephant bellowing with glee, scorpion bolts exploding, and water cannons firing. **

Ares grinned. That sounded awesome.

**The tunnel shook. Dirt rained down on them.**

Aphrodite shivered a little. She hated dirt.

**Frank slipped his hand inside his armor. The piece of wood was still safe and secure in his coat pocket, though one good shot from a scorpion might set his lifeline on fire…**

**Bad Frank, he chided himself. Fire is the "F-word." **

Everyone laughed.

"I don't think it's the word fire people mean when they say "F-word," snickered Annabeth.

Frank became a little read in the face.

**Don't think about it.**

**"****There's an opening just ahead," Hazel announced. "We'll come up ten feet from the east wall."**

**"****How can you tell?" Percy asked.**

"I am a daughter of Hades," answered Hazel the book.

**"****I don't know," she said. "But I'm sure."**

**"****Could we tunnel straight under the wall?" Frank wondered.**

**"****No," Hazel said. "The engineers were smart. They built the walls on old foundations that go down to bedrock. **

"That was smart," agreed Athena.

**And don't ask how I know. I just do."**

**Frank stumbled over something and cursed. Percy brought this sword around for more light. The thing Frank had tripped on was gleaming silver.**

**He crouched down.**

**"****Don't touch it!" Hazel said.**

**Frank's hand stopped a few inches from the chunk of metal. It looked like a giant Hershey's Kiss, about the size of his fist.**

"Wow," said Nico. He looked at his sister. "That's big."

**"****It's massive," he said. "Silver?"**

**"****Platinum." Hazel sounded scared out of her wits. "It'll go away in a second. Please don't touch it. It's dangerous."**

**Frank didn't understand how a lump of metal could be dangerous, but he took Hazel seriously. **

Hazel smiled at Frank.

**As they watched, the chunk of platinum sank into the ground.**

**He stared at Hazel. "How did you know?"**

**In the light of Percy's sword, Hazel looked as ghostly as a Lar. "I'll explain later," she promised.**

**Another explosion rocked the tunnel, and they forged ahead.**

**They popped out of a hole just where Hazel had predicted. In front of them, the fort's east wall loomed. Off to their left, Frank could see the main line of the Fifth Cohort advancing in turtle formation, shields forming a shell over their heads and sides. They were trying to reach the main gates, but the defenders above pelted them with rocks and shot flaming bolts from the scorpions, blasting craters around their feet. A water cannon discharged with a jaw-rattling THRUM, and a jet of liquid carved a trench in the dirt right in front of the cohort.**

**Percy whistled. "That's a lot of pressure, all right."**

**The Third and Fourth Cohorts weren't even advancing. They stood back and laughed, watching their "allies" get beat up. **

Reyna and Jason both frowned.

"We have to do something about that," said Jason.

"We'll talk to them when we get back," agreed Reyna.

**The defenders clustered on the wall above the gates, yelling insults at the tortoise formation as it staggered back and forth. War games had deteriorated into "beat up the Fifth."**

Everyone looked a little angry.

**"****Frank's vision went red with anger.**

**"****Let's shake things up." He reached in his quiver and pulled out an arrow heavier than the rest. The iron tip was shaped like the nose cone of a rocket. An ultra thin gold rope trailed from the fletching. **

Apollo whistled.

"Impressive," agreed Artemis reluctantly.

**Shooting it accurately up the wall would take more force and skill than most archers could manage, but Frank had strong arms and good aim.**

**Maybe Apollo is watching, he thought hopefully.**

**"****What does that do?" Percy asked. "Grappling hook?"**

**"****It's called a hydra arrow," Frank said. "Can you knock out the water cannons?"**

**A defender appeared on the wall above them. "Hey!" he shouted to his buddies. "Check it out! More victims!"**

"Typical males, so arrogant," growled Artemis.

"Hey! Not all males are like that," said Percy.

Artemis just huffed.

**"****Percy," Frank said, "now would be good."**

**More kids came across the battlements to laugh at them. A few ran to the nearest water cannon and swung the barrel toward Frank.**

**Percy closed his eyes. He raised his hand.**

**Up on the wall, somebody yelled, "Open wide, losers!"**

**KA-BOOM!**

"Yeah! Go Percy!" Yelled Nico, Grover, Hermes and Apollo.

Percy just blushed while Annabeth kissed his cheek.

**The cannon exploded in a starburst of blue, green, and white. Defenders screamed as a watery shock wave flattened them against the battlements. Kids toppled over the walls but were snatched by giant eagles and carried to safety. Then the entire eastern wall shuddered as the explosion backed up through the pipelines. One after another, the water cannons on the battlements exploded. The scorpions' fires were doused. Defenders scattered in confusion or were tossed through the air, giving the rescue eagles quite a workout. At the main gates, the Fifth Cohort forgot about their formation. Mystified, they lowered their shields and stared at the chaos.**

"They had their chance right there, but they just stopped! If this was a real battle they would have lost!" Yelled Athena.

Everyone looked at her, a little weary.

**Frank shot his arrow. It streaked upward, carrying its glittering rope. When it reached the top, the metal point fractured into a dozen lines that lashed out and wrapped around anything they could find—parts of the wall, a scorpion, a broken water cannon, and a couple of defending campers, who yelped and found themselves slammed against the battlements as anchors. From the main rope, handholds extended at two-foot intervals, making a ladder.**

"Wow," said Thalia.

**"****Go!" Frank said.**

**Percy grinned. "You first, Frank. This is your party."**

"Of course Percy would say something like that," Thalia shook her head fondly.

**Frank hesitated. Then he slung his bow on his back and began to climb. He was halfway up before the defenders recovered their senses enough to sound the alarm.**

"Stupid Romans," grumbled Athena.

Everyone ignored her.

**Frank glanced back at Fifth Cohort's main group. They were staring up at him, dumbfounded.**

**"****Well?" Frank screamed. "Attack!"**

"Yes, attack!" Yelled Ares.

**Gwen was the first to unfreeze. She grinned and repeated the order. A cheer went up from the battlefield. Hannibal the elephant trumpeted with happiness, but Frank couldn't afford to watch. He clambered to the top of the wall, where three defenders were trying to hack down his rope ladder.**

**One good thing about being big, clumsy, and clad in metal: Frank was like a heavily armored bowling ball. He launched himself at the defenders, and they toppled like pins. **

Everyone laughed.

**Frank got to his feet. He took command of the battlements, sweeping his pilum back and forth and knocking down defenders. Some shot arrows. Some tried to get under his guard with their swords, but Frank felt unstoppable. Then Hazel appeared next to him, swinging her big cavalry sword like she was born for battle.**

**Percy leaped onto the wall and raised Riptide.**

**"****Fun," he said.**

Nico snorted. "Of course you would think it was fun."

"Wouldn't you?" Countered Percy.

"Er..." Said Nico. "Maybe."

Everyone snickered at him.

**Together they cleared the defenders off the walls. Below them the gates broke. Hannibal barrelled into the fort, arrows and rocks bouncing harmlessly off his Kevlar armor.**

**The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-to-hand.**

**Finally, from the edge of the Field of Mars, a battle cry went up. The Third and Fourth Cohorts ran to join the fight.**

**"****A little late," Hazel grumbled.**

**"****We can't let them get the banners," Frank said.**

**"****No," Percy agreed. "Those are ours."**

**No more talk was necessary. They moved like a team, as if the three of them had been working together for years. **

The three of them smiled at each other.

**They rushed down the interior steps and into the enemy base.**

"That was a short chapter," said Grover.

"Can I read now?" Asked Annabeth.

Grover nodded and handed her the book.

"**Chapter 12: Frank**," Annabeth read.


	14. Chapter twelve: Frank

**Hey guys :)**

I am so sorry I haven't updated before now, but suddenly got this pain in my back and had to go to the hospital and I couldn't move for like two weeks so I wasn't able to be on the computer and when I finally got better I had to catch up on all the schoolwork I missed those two weeks... But anyway I am really sorry.

Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but I can't promise when. But don't worry, I am **_not _****going to abandon this story. **

**I don't own anything written in bold, Rick Riordan owns it. **

**I hope you like it :D**

* * *

"**Chapter 12: Frank**," started Annabeth.

**AFTER THAT, THE BATTLE WAS MAYHEM.**

**Frank, Percy, and Hazel waded through the enemy, plowing down anyone who stood in their way. The First and Second Cohorts—pride of Camp Jupiter, a well-oiled, highly disciplined war machine—fell apart under the assault and the sheer novelty of being on the losing side.**

Everyone in the room smiled at that.

**Part of their problem was Percy. **

Percy looked at Frank, a little confused.

**He fought like a demon, whirling through the defenders' ranks in a completely unorthodox style, rolling under their feet, slashing with his sword instead of stabbing like a Roman would, whacking campers with the flat of his blade, and generally causing mass panic. **

Everyone looked at Percy.

"Impressive," said Reyna.

Percy blushed a little. "Thanks."

**Octavian screamed in a shrill voice—maybe ordering the First Cohort to stand their ground, maybe trying to sing soprano—**

Everyone laughed at that.

**but Percy put a stop to it. **

"Go Percy!" Screamed Apollo and Hermes.

**He somersaulted over a line of shields and slammed the butt of his sword into Octavian's helmet. The centurion collapsed like a sock puppet.**

Laughter filled the room at that and all the romans had the biggest smiles on their faces.

**Frank shot arrows until his quiver was empty, using blunt-tipped missiles that wouldn't kill but left some nasty bruises. He broke his pilum over a defender's head, then reluctantly drew his gladius.**

**Meanwhile, Hazel climbed onto Hannibal's back. She charged toward the center of the fort, grinning down at her friends. "Let's go, slowpokes!"**

**Gods of Olympus, she's beautiful, Frank thought.**

Hazel and Frank blushed and Aphrodite squealed at their cuteness.

**They ran to the center of the base. The inner keep was virtually unguarded. Obviously the defenders never dreamed an assault would get this far. **

"Stupid, arrogant romans," muttered Athena darkly.

**Hannibal busted down the huge doors. Inside, the First and Second Cohort standard-bearers were sitting around a table playing Mythomagic with cards and figurines.**

Thalia, Percy and Grover all turned to Nico, who was looking at anyone but them, and snickered.

"What is so funny?" Asked Hazel. She could see this had something to do with her brother and she wanted to know as much about him as she could.

"Your brother," grinned Thalia. "Used to be obsessed with that game."

Almost everyone in the room looked at Nico in shock. That didn't seem like something he would do.

"What?" Asked Nico, feeling self-conscious because everyone was looking at him. " I don't play it anymore!"

**The cohort's emblems were propped carelessly against one wall.**

**Hazel and Hannibal rode straight into the room, and the standard-bearers fell backward out of their chairs. Hannibal stepped on the table, and game pieces scattered.**

**By the time the rest of the cohort caught up with them, Percy and Frank had disarmed the enemies, grabbed the banners, and climbed onto Hannibal's back with Hazel. **

Everyone grinned triumphantly.

**They marched out of the keep triumphantly with the enemy colors.**

**The Fifth Cohort formed ranks around them. Together they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines of equally mystified allies.**

**Reyna circled low overhead on her pegasus. "The game is won!" She sounded as if she were trying not to laugh. **

"Reyna? Laughing?" Asked Jason, like he couldn't believe it.

"I can laugh, you know," answered Reyna, frowning.

**"****Assemble for honors!"**

**Slowly the campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. Frank saw plenty of minor injuries—some burns, broken bones, black eyes, cuts and gashes, plus a lot of very interesting hairdos from fires and exploding water cannons—but nothing that couldn't be fixed.**

"Good," smiled Hestia.

**He slid off the elephant. His comrades swarmed him, pounding him on the back and complimenting him. Frank wondered if he was dreaming. It was the best night of his life—until he saw Gwen.**

"Oh no," said Artemis. It sounded like the young maiden was in danger.

Jason and Reyna both looked shocked and sad. And they were both worried for their friend.

**"****Help!" somebody yelled. A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying a girl on a stretcher. They set her down, and other kids started running over. Even from a distance, Frank could tell it was Gwen. She was in bad shape. She lay on her side on the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor—almost like she was holding it between her chest and her arm, but there was too much blood.**

"Oh, that poor girl," said Hestia sadly.

**Frank shook his head in disbelief. "No, no, no…" he muttered as he ran to her side.**

**The medics barked at everyone to stand back and give her air. The whole legion fell silent as the healers worked—trying to get gauze and powdered unicorn horn under Gwen's armor to stop the bleeding, trying to force some nectar into her mouth. Gwen didn't move. Her face was ashen gray.**

**Finally one of the medics looked up at Reyna and shook his head.**

Everyone looked down in respect of the dead girl. Even Hazel and Frank, though they knew she was still alive.

**For a moment, there was no sound except water from the ruined cannons trickling down the walls of the fort. Hannibal nuzzled Gwen's hair with his trunk.**

**Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was as hard and dark as iron. **

Almost like right now.

**"****There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honorable death is one thing, but this ... "**

Ares nodded in agreement. That was _not_ an honorable death.

**Frank wasn't sure what she meant. Then he noticed the marks engraved in the wooden shaft of the pilum: CHT I LEGIO XII F. The weapon belonged to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking out the front of her armor. Gwen had been speared from behind—possibly after the game had ended.**

Reyna and Jason were both furious. They hadn't thought anyone in their camp would ever do something like that.

Everyone else in the room looked quite angry too.

**Frank scanned the crowd for Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears. He didn't have a pilum.**

Apollo sighed. He was _so_ embarrassed to be one of Octavian's ancestors.

Everyone else were glaring at the book, which made Annabeth a little uncomfortable because she was holding it.

**Blood roared in Frank's ears. He wanted to strangle Octavian with his bare hands,**

"Do it! Do it!" Urged Ares.

Frank just rolled his eyes. Why did he have to be the son of the most annoying and violent god?

**but at that moment, Gwen gasped.**

"What?" Asked Athena.

**Everyone stepped back. Gwen opened her eyes. The color came back to her face.**

"That shouldn't be possible," said Annabeth, confused.

**"****Wh-what is it?" She blinked. "What's everyone staring at?" She didn't seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest.**

**Behind Frank, a medic whispered, "There's no way. She was dead. She has to be dead."**

**Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn't. "There was a river, and a man asking…for a coin? I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just…I just left. **

"That is not supposed to happen," frowned Hades.

**I don't understand. What's happened?"**

**Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help.**

"Help her!" Yelled Demeter.

**"****Gwen." Frank knelt next to her. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"**

**"****Why? What—"**

**"****Just trust me."**

**Gwen did what he asked.**

**Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. The wood was slick. "Percy, Hazel—help me."**

**One of the medics realized what he was planning. "Don't!" he said. **

"I don't think you can make that worse," said Percy.

**"****You might—"**

**"****What?" Hazel snapped. "Make it worse?"**

Hazel and Percy smiled at each other.

**Frank took a deep breath. "Hold her steady. One, two, three!"**

**He pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn't even wince. The blood stopped quickly.**

**Hazel bent down to examine the wound. "It's closing on its own," she said. **

"Okay, that is definitely not normal," said Apollo.

**"****I don't know how, but—"**

**"****I feel fine," Gwen protested. "What's everyone worried about?"**

"She must be so confused," whispered Hestia.

**With Frank and Percy's help, she got to her feet. Frank glowered at Octavian, but the centurion's face was a mask of polite concern.**

"Yeah right," said Nico. "Like he would ever be concerned for someone other than himself."

**Later, Frank thought. Deal with him later.**

**"****Gwen," Hazel said gently, "there's no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back."**

**"****I…what?" She stumbled against Frank. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armor. "How—how?"**

**"****Good question." Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. "Is this some power of Pluto?"**

**Nico shook his head. "Pluto never lets people return from the dead."**

"Of course not," said Hades. "There is a reason people die. I can't just go around giving people their lives back. That would unbalance the entire world."

He didn't see Hazel look sadly down at her lap.

**He glanced at Hazel as if warning her to stay quiet. Frank wondered what that was about, but he didn't have time to think about it.**

**A thunderous voice rolled across the field: ****_Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning._**

"Oh no, what now?" Asked Poseidon.

**Campers drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna.**

**"****I know that voice," Percy said. He didn't sound pleased.**

"Who is it?" Annabeth asked like she expected this Percy to know.

"I don't know," he answered, frustrated.

**In the midst of the legion, a column of fire blasted into the air. Heat seared Frank's eyelashes. Campers who had been soaked by the cannons found their clothes instantly steam-dried. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion.**

A few people in the room glanced at Ares.

**Frank didn't have much hair, but what he did have stood straight up. The soldier was ten feet tall, dressed in Canadian Forces desert camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge like Frank's. His face was angular and brutal, marked with old knife scars. His eyes were covered with infrared goggles that glowed from inside. He wore a utility belt with a sidearm, a knife holster, and several grenades. In his hands was an oversized M16 rifle.**

Ares form started flickering.

Aphrodite was looking at her boyfriend admiringly. He really was good looking.

**The worst thing was that Frank felt drawn to him. As everyone else stepped back, Frank stepped forward. He realized the soldier was silently willing him to approach.**

**Frank desperately wanted to run away and hide, but he couldn't. He took three more steps. Then he sank to one knee.**

"You shouldn't kneel for him," said Percy angrily.

Ares glared at him and all the romans looked at him like he was mad. How could he speak like that about a god?

**The other campers followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted.**

**"****That's good," the soldier said. "Kneeling is good. It's been a long time since I've visited Camp Jupiter."**

**Frank noticed that one person wasn't kneeling. Percy Jackson,**

"Of course," muttered Annabeth.

**his sword still in hand, was glaring at the giant soldier.**

Just like he was glaring at Ares now.

**"****You're Ares," Percy said. "What do you want?"**

"You should show some respect, punk," snarled Ares.

"Why?" Asked Percy.

"Because I could kill you right now if I wanted to," said Ares and he really wanted to.

"I beat you when I was eleven, what makes you think I can't beat you now?" Taunted Percy. "Besides I don't think my dad would be to happy if you killed me."

Poseidon shook his head, staring at Ares, daring him to try and hurt his son.

But even Ares wasn't stupid enough to try and kill Poseidon's favorite son and settled with glaring daggers at Percy.

**A collective gasp went up from two hundred campers and an elephant. Frank wanted to say something to excuse Percy and placate the god, but he didn't know what. He was afraid the war god would blast his new friend with that extra-large M16.**

****Percy smiled a little, both from Frank's concern and from Frank calling him his friend.

"Thanks," Percy said. 

**Instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.**

**"****You've got spunk, demigod," he said. "Ares is my Greek form. But to these followers, to the children of Rome, I am Mars—patron of the empire, divine father of Romulus and Remus."**

**"****We've met," Percy said. "We…we had a fight…"**

**The god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall. "I fight a lot of people. But I assure you—you've never fought me as Mars. If you had, you'd be dead. **

"Arrogant," muttered Thalia.

**Now, kneel, as befits a child of Rome, before you try my patience."**

**Around Mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.**

**"****Percy," Frank said, "please."**

**Percy clearly didn't like it, but he knelt.**

Percy gritted his teeth.

**Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!" He laughed—a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made Frank smile, though he was still shivering with fear. "I've always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he has allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. **

****"Lucky us," mumbled Frank so low that only the demigods (and Grover) could hear him and they all laughed quietly.

**I'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."**

**He pointed at Gwen. "This one should be dead, yet she's not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."**

**Was it Frank's imagination, or did the god glare at Nico di Angelo?**

** "****Thanatos has been chained," Mars announced. "The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them—at least, not impartially. Gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you—armies that you will not be able to kill. **

"That is bad," said Hermes.

"Bad?" Asked Athena, incredulously. "It's terrible!"

**Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."**

**Mars looked around, and noticed that everyone was still silently kneeling. "Oh, you can get up now. Any questions?"**

**Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god, followed by Octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler.**

**"****Lord Mars," Reyna said, "we are honored."**

**"****Beyond honored," said Octavian. "So far beyond honored—"**

**"****Well?" Mars snapped.**

**"****Well," Reyna said, "Thanatos is the god of death, the lieutenant of Pluto?"**

**"****Right," the god said.**

**"****And you're saying that he's been captured by giants."**

**"****Right."**

**"****And therefore people will stop dying?"**

**"****Not all at once," Mars said. "But the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. Those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. Monsters are already harder to dispatch. Soon they will be completely impossible to kill. **

"That is bad," Apollo agreed with Hermes.

Athena just rolled her eyes and sighed. Boys…

**Some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the Underworld—like your friend Centurion Shish kebab."**

"Centurion Shish kebab, really?" Asked Artemis.

**Gwen winced. "Centurion Shish kebab?"**

**"****If left unchecked," Mars continued, "even mortals will eventually find it impossible to die. Can you imagine a world in which no one dies—ever?"**

"That would not be a good world," said Hades.

**Octavian raised his hand. "But, ah, mighty all-powerful Lord Mars, if we can't die, isn't that a good thing? If we can stay alive indefinitely—"**

"Stupid boy," snarled Hades.

**"****Don't be foolish, boy!" Mars bellowed. "Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point? Enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? Is that what you want?"**

"It sounds like something you would want," said Hephaestus to Ares.

**"****You're the god of war," Percy spoke up. "Don't you want endless carnage?"**

Hephaestus smiled a little. He actually liked the son of the sea god

**Mars's infrared goggles glowed brighter. "Insolent, aren't you? Perhaps I have fought you before. I can understand why I'd want to kill you. I'm the god of Rome, child. I am the god of military might used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don't fight without reason. I don't want war without end.**

Everyone looked at Ares, a little shocked.

**You will discover this. You will serve me."**

"Not likely" Percy said.

**"****Not likely," Percy said.**

"Wow, you don't really change, do you?" Asked Jason.

**Again, Frank waited for the god to strike him down, but Mars just grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash.**

"Like I would want to be his buddy," muttered Percy.

**"****I order a quest!" the god announced. "You will go north and find Thanatos in the land beyond the gods. You will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. Beware Gaea! Beware her son, the eldest giant!"**

**Next to Frank, Hazel made a squeaking sound. "The land beyond the gods?"**

Hazel looked terrified.

**Mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16. "That's right, Hazel Levesque. You know what I mean. Everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honor! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the Feast of Fortuna…perhaps then your honor will be restored. If you don't succeed, there won't be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever. So my advice is: Don't fail."**

"Wow, great advice," said Nico, sarcastically.

**Octavian somehow managed to bow even lower. "Um, Lord Mars, just one tiny thing. A quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! We used to get them from the Sibylline books, but now it's up to the augur to glean the will of gods. So if I could just run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possibly a knife—"**

"Ugh," groaned Apollo.

**"****You're the augur?" the god interrupted.**

**"****Y-yes, my lord."**

**Mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt. "Anyone got a pen?"**

**The legionnaires stared at him.**

**Mars sighed. "Two hundred Romans, and no one's got a pen? Never mind!"**

**He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. There were many screaming Romans. Then the grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write.**

**Frank looked at Percy with wide eyes. He mouthed: ****_Can your sword do grenade form_****?**

"No," answered Percy.

**Percy mouthed back, ****_No_****. ****_Shut up_****.  
"There!" Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. "A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever."**

**Octavian read the scroll. "This says, 'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.'"**

"That is not a prophecy," grumbled Apollo.

"So what," said Ares.

**"****Yes," Mars said. "Is that not clear?"**

**"****Well, my lord…usually prophecies are unclear. They're wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and…"**

**Mars casually popped another grenade off his belt. "Yes?"**

"You shouldn't threaten the kids," scolded Demeter, but Ares just ignored her.

**"****The prophecy is clear!" Octavian announced. "A quest!"**

**"****Good answer." Mars tapped the grenade to his chin. "Now, what else? There was something else… Oh, yes."**

**He turned to Frank. "C'mere, kid."**

**No, Frank thought. The burned stick in his coat pocket felt heavier. His legs turned wobbly. A sense of dread settled over him, worse than the day the military officer had come to the door.**

Ares frowned a little at that.

**He knew what was coming, but he couldn't stop it. He stepped forward against his will.**

**Mars grinned. "Nice job taking the wall, kid. Who's the ref for this game?"**

**Reyna raised her hand.**

**"****You see that play, ref?" Mars demanded. "That was my kid. First over the wall, won the game for his team. Unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. You're not blind, are you?"**

Ares looked at Reyna, who looked a little bit nervous, waiting to hear what she said.

**Reyna looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse. "No, Lord Mars."**

**"****Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown," Mars demanded. "My kid, here!" he yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard. Frank wanted to melt into the dirt.**

**"****Emily Zhang's son," Mars continued. "She was a good soldier. Good woman. This kid Frank proved his stuff tonight. Happy late birthday, kid. Time you stepped up to a real man's weapon."**

**He tossed Frank his M16. For a split second Frank thought he'd be crushed under the weight of the massive assault rifle, but the gun changed in mid-air, becoming smaller and thinner. When Frank caught it, the weapon was a spear. It had a shaft of Imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light.**

All of the gods gasped, knowing what is was.

**"****The tip is a dragon's tooth," Mars said. "You haven't learned to use your mom's talents yet, have you? **

"What talent?" Asked everyone in the room, but Ares didn't answer them.

**Well—that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. You get three charges out of it, so use it wisely."**

**Frank didn't understand, but Mars acted like the matter was closed. "Now, my kid Frank Zhang is gonna lead the quest to free Thanatos, unless there are any objections?"**

"Who would be stupid enough to object?" Asked Annabeth.

**Of course, no one said a word. But many of the campers glared at Frank with envy, jealousy, anger, and bitterness.**

"I don't understand why everyone wants to go on quests, they're terrible!" Said Percy.

**"****You can take two companions," Mars said. "Those are the rules. One of them needs to be this kid."**

**He pointed at Percy. **

"Of course," groaned Percy. When did he ever get a break?

**"****He's gonna learn some respect for Mars on this trip, or die trying. **

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Percy.

**As for the second, I don't care. Pick whomever you want. Have one of your senate debates. You all are good at those."**

**The god's image flickered. Lightning crackled across the sky.**

Everyone looked at Zeus.

**"****That's my cue," Mars said. "Until next time, Romans. Do not disappoint me!"**

**The god erupted in flames, and then he was gone.**

**Reyna turned toward Frank. Her expression was part amazement, part nausea, like she'd finally managed to swallow that mouse. She raised her arm in a Roman salute. "Ave, Frank Zhang, son of Mars."**

**The whole legion followed her lead, but Frank didn't want their attention anymore. His perfect night had been ruined.**

Again Ares frowned. What was wrong with being his son? He was most awesome dad anyone could ask for.

**Mars was his father. The god of war was sending him to Alaska. Frank had been handed more than a spear for his birthday. He'd been handed a death sentence.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Annabeth.

"I will read next," demanded Hera.

Annabeth glared at her, but handed her the book.

"**Chapter 13: Percy**," read Hera.


End file.
